Identify data types and sources
Think about the sorts of data you may be able to gather to address your aims and objectives.
The following list of categories of data for needs assessment1 can help you identify data that can be used and/or collected in an evaluation .
- Epidemiological: relating to disease incidence and prevalence, or mortality trends among a population
- Demographic: the age, gender and/or ethnicity characteristics of a population
- Socio-economic: the variations in income or resource access across a population
- Benchmarking:how do the processes and effectiveness of this service compare with others that are similar?
- Patient/user perspectives: what do users think about the service?
- Professional perspectives: what do professional staff who are involved or affected by the service think about it?
1 National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services (2004) Population based needs assessment for palliative care. London: National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services May 2004.
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