Community Needs Assessment

Definition

A Community Needs Assessment is a structured process used to identify and analyse the needs of a community. It gathers data to highlight the gaps between existing provision and what people in the community need, and can be used to support decisions about resource allocation and service planning.

Also known as

Needs Assessment, Community Health Assessment, Local Needs Assessment

Relevance to OCSI

We offer Community Needs Assessments as part of our research services, identifying local challenges and opportunities using robust data. We work with organisations to produce evidence-based reports that support targeted strategy and service development.

Related links and examples

• https://ocsi.uk/2023/05/24/community-needs-index-2023/
• https://ocsi.uk/2019/10/21/community-needs-index-measuring-social-and-cultural-factors/

Featured posts

Case studies

The Welsh Community Assets Index and the Welsh Community Resilience Index – Measures of Community Need in Wales

In Wales many areas face dual challenges, lacking accessible local assets like…
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Data analysis

Exploring Scotland’s Census 2022 data at a small-area level

We’re happy to announce that data from Scotland’s Census 2022 is now…
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Research Projects

Developing a measure of Hyper-local Need: neighbourhood level data to inform Labour’s key missions

The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (ICON) was created in September to examine…
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