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Needs Assessment: A Practical Guide to Assessing Local Needs for Services for Drug Users
What is in this guide?
This guide describes the needs assessment process step-by-step, and gives examples of how to do a needs assessment for specific areas of work.
What is the aim?
This document aims to provide practical guidance on how to conduct a local needs assessment.
Who should read it?
It is intended for Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAATs), and those involved in planning and providing services for drug users.
Who wrote it?
The guide was produced by Dawn Griesbach, Vered Hopkins, Patricia Russell and Chris Rich.
Introduction
The publication of 'Integrated Care for Drug Users: Principles and Practice' identified the process of
needs assessment as a key first step in designing and delivering integrated services for drug users and their families (EIU 2002a).
Local needs assessment will help to establish the extent and nature of the drug problem in an area, describe the socio-demographic profile of users and examine the common referral routes. This will help build up a picture of the needs of the population.
Needs assessment is a strategic process. It is about identifying the needs of the local population, so that services can be planned and delivered to meet those needs. The outcomes will be greater capacity within services and better access to services for users as well as improvements in the quality and range of service provision. Needs assessment is an integral part of other strategic initiatives, such as reducing waiting times. The current Waiting Times Strategy Framework highlights needs assessment as one of the key processes to be undertaken locally to help reduce waiting times.
This document aims to provide a practical guide on how to conduct a local needs assessment. The guide is intended for Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAATs) and other service planners and providers, who should link the task of needs assessment to their regular on-going monitoring and evaluation of services. This will allow services to determine how well they are currently meeting the needs of their clients and their families, or whether they need to make some adjustments in order to do so more effectively.
The guide provides a step-by-step description of the needs assessment process, and gives some examples taken from the research literature and from current practice in different areas throughout Scotland. It also provides examples of how to do a needs assessment for specific populations, including psychostimulant users, rural populations and young people. Although the document focuses on assessing the need for services for drug users, it is relevant for needs assessment for alcohol users.
The guide includes information gathered from a number of sources:
A literature review
A telephone survey of DAAT support officers from across Scotland
Discussions with key individuals
A reference group comprising a wide range of individuals with expertise in the area of needs assessment (See
Appendix 1).
THANK YOU The EIU wishes to thank all those who have helped with this guide by contributing examples, information and views. In particular we are grateful to the members of the Reference Group and staff from DAAT support teams who contributed to the telephone survey. |
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