Field-Driven Best Practices for Conducting Community Needs Assessments in Rural Areas

A three-stage community needs assessment process is the gold standard in conducting community assessments; however, social workers working in rural communities should consider best practices when working in rural areas. Within the community needs assessment literature, there are no rural specific identified best practices to enhance the experiences of social workers and community members engaged in the process. To identify these field driven best practices, we conducted interviews with professionals who had a history of conducting rural community needs assessments. Four best practices emerged from these interviews (N = 17) including using participatory approaches throughout the needs assessment process, investing in relationship building, using investigator-specific methods that came from experiences in the field, and the use of tools for conducting needs assessments. Social workers should be intentional about their use of foundational macro skills that align with the field driven best practices that emerged in the current study.