COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT PROJECT GUIDELINES
The Community as Client Model
The focus of this assessment is the community. Everyone is part of at least one community. Every community is affected by eight subsystems: recreation; physical environment; education; safety and transportation; politics and government; health and social services; communication; and economics. In addition to the "people" (the core) of the community, these eight subsystems come together to form the assessment data for your community assessment project.
Specific information and detailed descriptions can be found in Anderson, E. T., & McFarlane, J. M. (1988) Community as client: Application of the nursing process. Philadelphia: Lippincott. (Pertinent chapters are on reserve and the library has copies of the book) or in newer edition: Anderson, E. T., & McFarlane, J. M. (1996). Community as partner: Theory and practice in nursing. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
You are to apply the nursing process in this project and include the elements described below:
ASSESSMENT
The assessment data is to include the “community core”* and the “eight subsystems” listed above and described in Anderson & McFarlane (1988, 1996). Multiple data collection sources and methods, including interviews** and windshield survey, should be used and documented using APA format.
*Community core demographics and data are to be compared with comparable data from a larger entity, such as county or state.
**Each student is to talk to at least three key people in the community when gathering data. Examples of key people to interview for the project include, but are not limited to: the mayor; alder persons, health care providers, a service provider such as mail carrier or shop owner; and long term residents of the community. People who live or work in the community are a rich source of information regarding the community and can often provide data not found in printed form. Make
