Assessing Community Health Care Needs
Assess the health care needs of a selected community by completing an environmental analysis and a virtual windshield survey. Summarize the results of your assessment in a 2-3 page executive summary.
Introduction
Health care must be evidence-based, effective, efficient, and affordable; it must provide resources that meet the needs of the community. Nurse leaders must understand and thoroughly evaluate the environment to enable the efficient and equitable allocation of resources. A useful tool for this type of assessment is commonly called a windshield survey. Windshield surveys are what you might expect from the name. They are a way of gathering information about specific aspects of a community while driving around, such as the condition of roads, buildings, and housing.
This assessment provides an opportunity to examine the prevailing health conditions and social determinants of health in a community by completing an environmental analysis and a virtual windshield survey based on communities within the Vila Health system. Although Vila Health is a virtual lab, the communities represented in this simulation are real, enabling you to conduct an actual community health assessment.
Preparation
Executive leaders at Vila Health have asked you to provide them with your assessment of the health conditions in one of the communities served by the Vila Health system. Knowing that a windshield survey is needed to validate any underlying assumptions about the needs of the community and inform evidence-based decision making and strategic planning, you have decided to conduct a first-hand exploration of the community, followed up by an environmental analysis. An environmental analysis examines the factors that can influence the performance of a health care organization, which is important in a rapidly changing health care environment.
To prepare for the assessment, you are encouraged to begin thinking about how an environmental analysis and windshield survey contribute to assessing community health care needs. In addition, you may wish to:
Review the assessment requirements and scoring guide to ensure that you understand the work you will be asked to complete.
Review Guiding Questions: Assessing Community Health Care Needs [DOCX], which includes questions to consider and additional guidance on how to successfully complete the assessment.
The following resource is required to complete the assessment.
Vila Health: Environmental Analysis and Windshield Survey.
Vila Health is a virtual environment that simulates a real-world health care system. In the various Vila Health scenarios, you will apply professional strategies, practice skills, and build competencies that you can apply to your coursework and in your career. The information you gather in this scenario will help you to complete the assessment.
TEMPLATES
Use this template for your community health assessment.
Community Health Assessment Template [DOCX].
Requirements
Complete this assessment in two steps:
If you have not already done so, complete the Vila Health: Environmental Analysis and Windshield Survey simulation.
Write an executive summary of your community health assessment, based on your windshield survey and environmental analysis.
The community health assessment requirements outlined below, correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide, so be sure to address each point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. The Guiding Questions: Assessing Community Health Care Needs document provides additional considerations that may be helpful in completing your assessment. In addition, be sure to note the requirements below for document format and length and for citing supporting evidence.
Assess, via a windshield survey, the general condition and needs of a community from a public health perspective.
Analyze the environmental factors affecting population health in a community.
Identify the social determinants of health in a community.
Summarize windshield survey and environmental analysis findings for executive leaders.
Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style.
Support findings and conclusions with relevant and credible evidence.
Document Format and Length
Use the Community Health Assessment Template. This APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] can help you in writing and formatting your assessment. If you would like to use a different worksheet for your community health assessment, obtain prior approval from faculty.
The executive summary portion of your survey and analysis should be 2–3 pages in length.
Be sure to apply correct APA formatting to all source citations and references.
Supporting Evidence
Cite 3–5 credible sources from peer-reviewed journals or professional industry publications to support your executive summary.
Additional Requirements
Proofread your executive summary before you submit it, to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your assessment.
Portfolio Prompt: You may choose to save your community health assessment to your ePortfolio.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Identify the challenges and opportunities facing health care.
Assess, via a windshield survey, the general condition and needs of a community from a public health perspective.
Analyze the environmental factors affecting population health in a community.
Identify the social determinants of health in a community.
Competency 4: Develop proactive strategies to change the culture of the organization by incorporating evidence-based practices.
Summarize windshield survey and environmental analysis findings for executive leaders.
Competency 5: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style.
Support assertions, arguments, propositions, and conclusions with relevant and credible evidence.
Vila Health: Environmental Analysis and Windshield Survey
Effective health care leadership relies on assessments based on reliable information. One key tool is the windshield survey —with a practiced eye, one can make valuable judgments about the health conditions of a community while performing a mobile survey.
In this simulation, you will conduct a virtual windshield survey in either a rural or an urban environment. You will also be provided with resources to help you begin the environmental analysis of one of the two communities. You will use the information you gather to inform your proposal for changes to the health care system.