Running head: SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Smoking Cessation Program Needs Assessment

Celeste Ketels
CUR/526
August 8, 2016
Shiddeeqah Johnson

SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Smoking Cessation Program Needs Assessment

Overview
Many communities encounter problems within their society in which they struggle.
Conducting a needs assessment is an essential component to identify which problem within a
community should be prioritized by establishing the level of importance of a problem (Royse,
Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). A needs assessment is a set of steps taken to estimate deficiencies
within a program and should be the first phase in a program development process (Royse, Thyer,
& Padgett, 2010). Needs that have not been met, holes in services, or previously unrecognized
problems are some examples of deficiencies that can be identified by performing a needs
assessment (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). There are some different methodologies that may
be utilized in a needs assessment and there are many reasons for conducting a needs assessment
as well (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). There are several factors that are necessary to consider
during the needs assessment process such as a clearly understanding the purpose of the needs
assessment as described above, the level of assessment, stakeholders, budget and available
resources, time allotted for the project, the specific information needed to be acquired, and a
determination of whether the information already exists or can be obtained with resources.
Program
A needs assessment provides useful knowledge about planning a program (Royse, Thyer,
& Padgett, 2010). The smoking cessation program will be an evidence-based program and will
combine medication management and group counseling sessions. This program will be held at
community centers throughout Tuscola County.

SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Purpose
When performing a needs assessment for a community that may require a smoking
cessation program, the reasoning behind the needs assessment would be to discover the
magnitude of the constant problem within the community and to establish if there are sufficient
community residents with smoking issues to substantiate constructing a community smoking
cessation program. The objective of this program is to reduce the number of adults who smoke
cigarettes in Tuscola County by providing current smokers with a program to help them quit
smoking and remain non-smokers. By decreasing the number of smokers in Tuscola County, this
will also reduce the number of persons who are exposed to second-hand smoke.
Participants
A needs assessment provides useful knowledge, which includes target groups, the greatest
means to market or advertise services, approximates of the totals of community member who
may receive help from a program, evidence of the geographical allocation and sociodemographic features of possible participants, and obstacles that may be faced by participants
(Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). Specifics of the participants will be better known when data is
collected via different methods. The smoking cessation program will consist of adults, as
defined as at least 18 years old, who are current smokers and living within Tuscola County.
Level of Assessment
Epidemiologic surveys search for the degree of problems, such as disease or injury,
within a community (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). Epidemiologic surveys require a scientific
basis and representative samples, so they are more costly than small-scale, informal surveys
(Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). Everyone in the community must have a chance to offer
feedback for a survey to be representative of the entire community. Since Tuscola County is

SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

quite a small community, the cost should remain low and feedback sufficient to perform
epidemiologic surveys for this county.
Stakeholders
There are numerous stakeholders within a community (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010).
Stakeholders are all those who have an interest in a program and can include such groups as
funders, administrators, politicians, community members, service providers, and staff or other
programs and organizations that might be making or receiving referrals, businesses, unions,
current, past, and potential clients (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010, p. 58). Unique perspectives
about a program are held by different stakeholders, and these stakeholders may construe
outcomes from their individual viewpoint (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). The stakeholder for
a community smoking cessation program include the participants or potential participants,
insurance companies, employers, and community service providers.
Budget
Financially, a needs assessments does not have to be onerous and can be operated with
limited resources (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). If a needs assessment is costly, different
avenues of funding should be considered. The budget for the smoking cessation program will be
$10,000/year, which will be acquired by holding an auction.
Available Resources
Secondary data signifies existing data that can be obtained from census data, public
documents, and reports (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). Information can be gained by
researching others data and surveys that may be relevant to the potential program (Royse, Thyer,
& Padgett, 2010). Census data should be examined before there is any other information
collected. A good website for this information is an internet source, www.census.gov, which will

SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

provide an idea of the population that might benefit from a program such as a community
smoking cessation program (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). Data will be collected via Tuscola
County Health Department, other government websites, and questionnaires that will be mailed to
all community members.
Time Allotted
The more resources available, the higher the budget, and the more time that will be
allotted, the more inclusive and complex the needs assessment (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010).
There will be time needed to collect and analyze the data gathered from the survey's that are to
be mailed to the community members, so this will take some time. So, analyzing the data once it
is mailed back from each community member will take approximately six to nine months to
ensure a complete participation of community members.
Measurement
Community member information can be used to find areas or roads with the greatest
occurrences of particular problems such as cigarette smoking (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010).
Colorful pins signifying participant families may be positioned in maps to facilitate workers to
direct their outreach and teaching activities (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). A population that
is prone to smoking cigarettes in Tuscola County and percent of the population of smokers in
Tuscola County as compared to national or state average.
Data Gathering
A convergence analysis uses multiple sources to obtain data because any single method to
needs assessment may deliver a partial representation of the genuine necessity for a program
(Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). For the smoking cessation program, personal information will

SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

be gathered from community members by employing questionnaires. Other data will be located
on health department websites.
Closing
As professionals, there may be an assumption of the needs within a community, but this
assumed knowledge is merely subjective belief until there is evidence obtained of the needs that
remain unmet in communities (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). As soon as the gathered data of
needs have been recorded, that evidence can be deemed a standard against which program
application and result will be compared (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). According to McKillip
(1998), a needs assessment is used as a tool to aid in decision making for "resource allocation,
program planning, and program development that is grounded in the belief that strategic
programming can relieve concern and support development (as cited in Royse, Thyer, & Padgett,
2010, p. 55). When considering a needs assessment there are several factors that are necessary to
consider during the process such as a clearly understanding the purpose of the needs assessment,
the level of assessment, stakeholders, budget and available resources, time allotted for the
project, the specific information needed to be acquired, and a determination of whether the
information already exists or can be obtained with resources. Hence, by following these steps
and gathering the pertinent data, an effective and efficient program may be developed and
implemented into a community or wherever a need may lie.

SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM NEEDS ASSESSMENT

References
Royse, D., Thyer, B. A., & Padgett, D. K. (2010). Program Evaluation: An Introduction.
Retrieved from University of Phoenix:
https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/1133141021/cfi/0