Completing an individual health needs assessment provides an opportunity to improve health outcomes. It is a comprehensive assessment considering social, economic, cultural, and behavioral factors that influence health. Later in the term, you will actually complete a community health needs assessment, but let's first start with yourself.
The first stage of the health needs assessment involves gathering information and data. The sources and links outlined in this assignment will provide a breadth of self-perspectives on health and needs necessary for a comprehensive assessment. The different sources of information help to define what might influence your health needs.
The second stage is planning. Once you've identified risks, views, perceptions, and experiences, you can prioritize what areas need the most attention – assuming this is something you're willing and want to address. This will only support the development and implementation of both acute and sustainable interventions congruent with the goal. Identifying and performing action steps is critical in moving to the next stage, which is implementation. There's no formal end to this as it's always evolving and adapting.
Finally, there's the evaluation stage of your efforts, but it also involves reflection on the process. Obviously, it takes evaluation methods to determine if progress is being made. It's also vital to reflect because if health needs are to remain a priority or be put on hold, you need to consider your position in the context of life (school, work, relationships, family, etc.). This ultimately forces you to re-prioritize and re-assess your health needs, starting another round of the cycle.
Assignment Objectives
- Identify the stages of a health needs assessment.
- Self-assess and prioritize health areas among four health promotion domains.
- Create a plan with intervention(s) and mode(s) of evaluation for achieving a health goal.
- Reflect on mechanical and behavioral processes to identify, initiate, and maintain change.
Assignment Instructions
- Fill in and complete this Assessment of Needs WorksheetDownload Assessment of Needs WorksheetOpen this document with ReadSpeaker docReader
- It will walk you through each health promotion stage to self-assess and evaluate yourself in four domains
- Go through each step, typing in a brief impression of your findings (2-4 sentences) in the provided worksheet boxes
Module 6 Learning Activity Worksheet
Assessment of Needs
1. Self-assess and evaluate yourself in these four health promotion domains. Click the links below to view and write a brief summary for each finding once completed.
· Physical Assessment
· Complete a SIMPAQ questionnaire
· Refer to this video for guidance on how to complete it and its scoring
· If you prefer written instructions, refer to this accompanying document
Impression of findings (2-4 sentences): |
· Nutrition
· Complete a 24-hr diet recall on yourself
· This intervention should be approached with care and caution in most patients (and yourself), considering the prevalence of eating disorders, and personal and cultural sensitivities. You may “opt out” if this would be an unhealthy activity for you. Please indicate if this is the case.
· Reflect on the day’s calorie load, meal composition and quality (proportion of protein, carbs, fiber, fat), meal frequency, satiety levels, drinks, supplements, etc.
Impression of findings (2-4 sentences): |
· Stress
· Use the Stress Warning Signal Checklist to identify any warning signs (or see Murdaugh et al., p. 102)
Impression of findings (2-4 sentences): |
· Social
· Complete an Emotional Support Diagram (see Murdaugh et al., p. 104)
Impression of findings (2-4 sentences): |
Planning
2. Based on your self-assessment, complete the Health Planning Process template (copied below) to synthesize your findings.
· See a filled-in example (Figure 5-1) in Murdaugh et al., pp. 119-120.
Implementation
3. Next, based on your own assessment and plan for yourself, read the chapter that corresponds most to your first identified priority behavior change goal. Highlight the read chapter.
· Murdaugh et al., Ch. 6 – Physical Activity
· Murdaugh et al., Ch. 7 – Nutrition
· Murdaugh et al., Ch. 8 – Stress management
· Murdaugh et al., Ch. 9 – Social support
4. Based on your first priority health goal from the Health Planning Process template, complete the SMART Goal worksheet based on this goal (also copied below).
· Refer to this video for guidance in creating your SMART goal.
Evaluation
5. Read Chapter 10 in Murdaugh et al.
· Afterwards, describe how you will evaluate yourself based on your created SMART goal. List what metrics or actions you will monitor to ensure you’re progressing.
· Presume you are explicitly ready for change (in the "contemplation" stage or further).
Evaluation (2-4 sentences): |
Rev. 8/24
Health Planning Process Template
Your strengths (list 3-5): |
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Cultural preferences: |
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Desired behavioral and health outcomes (list 2-3): |
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Personal Health Goals (1=highest priority) |
Selected Behaviors to Accomplish Goals |
Stage of Change |
Strategies/Interventions for Change |
1. |
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2. |
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3. |
Modified Individual Health Promotion-Prevention Plan
SMART Goal Worksheet
Crafting a SMART Goal is designed to help you identify if what you want to achieve is realistic and determine a deadline. When writing a SMART Goal, use concise language, but include relevant information.
INITIAL GOAL |
Write the goal you have in mind. |
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S |
What do you want to accomplish? Who needs to be included? When do you want to do this? Why is this a goal? |
SPECIFIC |
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M |
How can you measure progress and know if you’ve successfully met your goal? |
MEASURABLE |
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A |
Do you have the skills required to achieve the goal? If not, can you obtain them? What is the motivation for this goal? Is the amount of effort required on par with what the goal will achieve? |
ACHIEVABLE |
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R |
Why am I setting this goal now? Is it aligned with overall objectives? |
RELEVANT |
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T |
What’s the deadline and is it realistic? |
TIME-BOUND |
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SMART GOAL |
Review what you have written, and craft a new goal statement based on what the answers to the questions above have revealed. |