Handbook for Participatory Community Assessments

Posted by on July 1, 2005

[posted from Community Based Participatory Research listserv]

The Alameda County Public Health Department is pleased to announce the release of a new publication, “A Handbook for Participatory Community Assessments: Experiences from Alameda County.”

This “how-to” book describes the steps and tools used in the participatory community assessments conducted by the Alameda County Public Health Department in California, in collaboration with the South Hayward Neighborhood Collaborative and the Livermore Neighborhood Coalition. The assessments collected information on assets and priorities and called for community action to create a safe and healthy environment.

The handbook is organized into nine steps:

Step 1: Building partnerships for community assessment
Step 2: Initial planning activities
Step 3: Setting the direction of the community assessment
Step 4: Developing indicators
Step 5: Choosing your data collection methods
Step 6: Collecting the data
Step 7: Sharing the results
Step 8: Writing a community action plan
Step 9: Evaluating the community assessment

The handbook is also available on-line at http://www.acphd.org under the section “Data and Reports.” If you have any questions, comments, or would like to receive a paper copy, please call (510) 267-8020.