What Needs Are
We Addressing

Who Do We Serve?

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonOur aims (aspirations)

We recognize and define the communities we serve with particular reference to underserved populations.

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonHow do we know we are achieving our aims? (indicators)

The following indicators will assess our progress towards these aims:
  • We clearly define the communities and the areas or regions we serve
  • We clearly define and emphasize underserved communities as groups we are aiming to serve
  • Leadership, educators, learners and key stakeholders are aware of which regions and communities our school serves
  • The proportion of educators, learners and key stakeholders who have an awareness and understanding of our school's reference communities and regions

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonWhat data can be gathered? (suggested sources of evidence)

Use one or more of the following methods to gather data to assess progress towards these aims:

Document Review

Below are the types of documents used to determine whether your school has clearly defined the communities and regions it serves:
  • School and university mission and vision statement
  • Strategic plans
  • Annual report
  • Course material and learner manuals
  • Documents and data describing reference populations
Focus Groups/Interviews

Below are the types of questions you can ask in focus group discussions or in interviews with leadership, educators, learners and key stakeholders:
  • What communities and regions do you believe the school serves?
  • Are there communities and regions that the school does not serve as well as it could?
If the communities and regions the school serves have not been clearly identified, consider organizing stakeholder discussions and/or surveying learners and educators. Below are the types of questions to consider:
  • Define the geographical region that the school is serving or should serve?
  • What communities have difficulty accessing health services?
  • What communities have poor health outcomes in this region?
Additional questions and tools are available here.

What are the needs of the communities we serve?

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonOur aims (aspirations)

We identify the priority health and social needs of the communities and regions we serve and hold ourselves accountable for addressing these needs.

This is done in collaboration with groups who are affected by the school's activities such as communities, health services providers and local authorities.

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonHow do we know we are achieving our aims? (indicators)

The following indicators will assess our progress towards these aims:
  • We conduct a needs assessment to identify the priority health and health care needs of the communities we serve
  • We have a process to regularly review these needs
  • We document inequity in health outcomes across the communities and regions that we serve
  • Leadership, educators, and learners can identify priority needs of the communities we serve
  • Needs assessments are conducted in partnership with communities and others affected by the activities of the school
  • The majority of leadership, educators and learners are aware of community health and health system needs
  • We have a process in place to regularly evaluate whether we are meeting identified needs

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonWhat data can be gathered? (suggested sources of evidence)

Use one or more of the following methods to gather data to assess progress towards these aims:

Document Review

Below are the types of documents used to determine if your school has conducted a needs assessment:
  • Documents and reports describing the process or outcomes of needs assessments
  • Needs assessment tools referred to and used
  • School strategic plan
If your school has not conducted needs assessments:
  • Conduct document review of the most recent national, regional and local surveys and reports of health needs including demographics, epidemiological data, mortality/morbidity, burden of disease and socio-economic data
Focus Groups/Interviews

Below are the types of questions you can ask in focus group discussions or in interviews with leadership, educators, learners and key stakeholders:

If there is no school documentation of needs assessment:
  • What is the process in place to identify priority needs of the communities the school serves?
  • What are the type of needs assessed? (e.g. health, social, financial)
  • Who participates in the process of assessing priority needs?
  • How are the education, research and service programs addressing the needs of the community?
  • How does the school evaluate whether it is addressing these needs?
  • Is there a process in place to evaluate whether the school is addressing these needs?
If there is no process to assess the priority health needs of the community, consider using the following methods:
  • Conduct focus groups, surveys, interviews and meetings with stakeholders including students, educators, community members, health service providers and government authorities
  • Establish a mechanism to develop a consensus on priority needs the schools should address
Additional questions and tools are available here.

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonTools To Help

Additional Tools and Resources

Below are some resources that may help you. These are suggested tools only, and not developed by THEnet.

Health indicators for major health topics by country: Tools to help you conduct health needs assessments: For the latest tools from THEnet go to the Framework Toolkit.

What are the needs of our health system?

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonOur aims (aspirations)

We identify the needs of the health system we work in. This is done in collaboration with groups who are affected by the school's activities such as communities, health care providers and local authorities.

We are active contributors to improving the health system of which we are a part and making it more equitable through advocacy and reform.

We understand and are able to describe the health workforce required to meet the priority health needs of the communities and regions that we serve.

We emphasize and increase the provision of and access to comprehensive primary health care and prepare professionals who understand how to tackle social determinants of health.

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonHow do we know we are achieving our aims? (indicators)

The following indicators will assess our progress towards these aims:
  • Regional health workforce audits that identify gaps in regional health workforce across cadres of health workers
  • There is documentation of collaboration with health sector partners to identify needs, strengths and weaknesses of the regional health system
  • School personnel participates in regional health planning and governance organizations and activities
  • There is evidence of responsiveness or changes in school curriculum in response to health system and workforce needs assessment
  • The number of and level of engagement in regional health service planning meetings
  • The number and proportion of school leadership, educators and learners involved in influencing policies and practice to improve health services and systems, with an emphasis on primary health care
  • The proportion of educators and learners involved in advocacy and health system reform

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonWhat data can be gathered? (suggested sources of evidence)

Use one or more of the following methods to gather data to assess progress towards these aims:

Document Review

Below are the types of documents used to determine the degree to which your school has clearly defined the needs of the health system:
  • Documents and reports describing the process or outcomes of needs assessments
  • Needs assessment tools referred to and used
  • Strategic plans detailing health system needs
  • University and school documents and/or referenced data describing referenced data describing health workforce priority needs and plans to address them such as accreditation documents, or documents on community partnerships
  • Curriculum documents describing competencies aligned with health system needs
  • Documents describing clinical and community rotations embedded in the health system
  • University and school documents or web pages and/or referenced data describing learner and staff activities that support the health system such as accreditation documents, or documents on community partnerships
  • Learner and staff reports, projects or research programs that address health system needs
  • Meeting notes or reports from committees, local health boards, professional bodies that address health system and workforce reform in which educators, staff or learners participate
Focus Group/Interviews

Below are the types of questions you can ask in focus group discussions or in interviews with leadership, educators, learners and key stakeholders:
  • What do you believe are the health system needs in the communities and/or region the school serves?
  • What do you believe are the health workforce needs in the communities and/or regions the school serves?
  • How do you or others from your school support health system strengthening and workforce planning? (Educators)
  If there is no process to assess health system needs, consider using the following methods:
  • Conduct document review, focus groups, surveys, interviews and meetings with stakeholders including students, educators, leadership, community members, health service providers and government authorities
  • Establish a mechanism to develop a consensus on priority health system needs the school should address
Suggested documents to identify the needs of the health system:
  • International, national and regional health workforce articles, policies, reports and plans related to health system strengthening, guidelines on health workforce education reform, and needs assessments for health system strengthening
Additional questions and tools are available here.

ui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonui accordion buttonTools To Help

Additional Tools and Resources

Below are some resources that may help you. These are suggested tools only, and not developed by THEnet.

Assessing health workforce needs: Health inequality monitoring: Relevant reports, frameworks and guidelines: For the latest tools from THEnet go to the Framework Toolkit.

Recent Resources

Download The Framework

DOWNLOAD PDF (119KB)

THEnet is a trusted provider of technical assistance in designing socially accountable and community engaged health workforce education programs, evaluating education initiatives and their impact, and offering policy guidance to governments, schools and international partners.

For example, as an international expert in the evaluation of health workforce education, we were chosen by the US Government to conduct an external midterm evaluation of its $130 million-dollar Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) in Africa. Upon completion of the evaluation, the U.S. Government contracted us to conduct the midterm evaluation of its $30 million-dollar Global Nurse Capacity Building Program (GNCBP) that includes nursing and midwifery education.

THEnet offers technical assistance and consultancy services in the following areas:

  • Guiding health workforce education institutions using the Framework for Socially Accountable Health Workforce Education.
  • Supporting governments in carrying out the Framework for Socially Accountable Health Workforce Education on a national level.
  • Conducting baseline and needs assessments for health-system strengthening related to human resources for health.
  • Assessing the outcomes and impact of health workforce education institutions and programs and facilitating strategic and operational planning.
  • Advancing the implementation of social accountability strategies and accountability mechanisms at the institutional and national levels, including strategies and tools for:
  • Community engagement
  • Needs assessments
  • Curriculum revision
  • Faculty and student recruitment
  • Quality assurance at clinical training sites
  • Graduate tracking
  • Outcome and impact evaluation
  • Inter-professional collaboration
  • Policy, Regulation and Accreditation
  • Leadership development for social accountability

Please contact info@thenetcommunity.org if you are interested in accessing THEnet’s services and expertise.