CHES Area I: Assessing Needs, Resources, and Capacity

Every health education program begins with a question: what does this community actually need? Before you can design an intervention, train facilitators, or measure outcomes, you must first understand the population you serve. That is the purpose of Area I: Assessing Needs, Resources, and Capacity, and it is the foundation upon which all other Areas of Responsibility are built.

Area I carries significant weight on the CHES and MCHES examinations. If you are preparing for either credential, this is one area you cannot afford to study lightly. This guide walks you through the key competencies, core concepts, and study strategies you need to approach Area I with confidence. For a broader view of all eight Areas, see our overview of the NCHEC Areas of Responsibility.

What Area I Covers

Area I focuses on the competencies and sub-competencies related to identifying the health needs of individuals, groups, and communities. According to the NCHEC framework, health education specialists working within Area I are expected to plan and conduct assessments, examine existing data, identify available resources, and evaluate community capacity and readiness for health education programs.

The competencies within Area I include planning the assessment process, accessing existing data, collecting primary data, analyzing the data to determine priorities, and identifying the factors that influence health behaviors. Each of these competencies has multiple sub-competencies that describe specific tasks a health education specialist should be able to perform.

Understanding this structure matters because the exam does not simply test whether you know the definition of a needs assessment. It tests whether you can apply these competencies in realistic professional scenarios.

Key Concepts to Master

Needs Assessment Methodologies

A needs assessment is a systematic process for determining the gap between current conditions and desired outcomes in a community or population. Health education specialists use several methods to gather information during this process.

Surveys are among the most common tools. They can be distributed in print or electronically and allow you to collect data from large numbers of people efficiently. Focus groups bring together small groups of participants for guided discussion, providing rich qualitative data about community perceptions and experiences. Key informant interviews involve in-depth conversations with individuals who have specialized knowledge about the community, such as local leaders, healthcare providers, or educators. Community forums are public meetings that allow broad community participation and input.

Each method has strengths and limitations. Surveys generate quantifiable data but may miss nuance. Focus groups capture depth but are difficult to generalize. Key informant interviews provide expert insight but reflect individual perspectives. Community forums encourage participation but can be dominated by vocal individuals. A strong needs assessment typically combines multiple methods to triangulate findings.

Pro Tip: When studying for the exam, do not just memorize the names of these methods. Practice identifying which method is most appropriate for a given scenario. Exam questions often present a situation and ask you to select the best approach.

Primary vs. Secondary Data Sources

Understanding the distinction between primary data and secondary data is essential for Area I.

Primary data is information collected firsthand by the health education specialist for the specific purpose of the assessment. Examples include survey responses, focus group transcripts, and interview notes. Collecting primary data gives you control over the questions asked and the population sampled, but it is more time-consuming and resource-intensive.

Secondary data is information that already exists and was collected by someone else for a different purpose. Examples include census data, vital statistics records, hospital discharge data, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, and published research studies. Secondary data is faster and less expensive to obtain, but it may not align perfectly with your specific assessment questions.

Health education specialists must be skilled at both collecting primary data and locating, interpreting, and applying secondary data. The exam frequently tests your ability to distinguish between these sources and select the most appropriate one for a given situation.

Asset-Based vs. Deficit-Based Approaches

Traditional needs assessments often focus on what is wrong with a community: disease rates, risk behaviors, gaps in services. This is known as a deficit-based approach. While identifying problems is important, focusing exclusively on deficits can overlook the strengths that already exist within a community.

An asset-based approach shifts the focus to the resources, skills, and strengths that a community possesses. This might include existing organizations, cultural traditions that promote health, engaged community leaders, or physical infrastructure like parks and recreation centers. Asset mapping is a common technique used to catalog these resources.

In practice, the most effective assessments blend both perspectives. You identify the needs and gaps while also recognizing the assets that can be leveraged to address them. The exam may ask you to distinguish between these approaches or to identify which approach is being described in a scenario.

Community Capacity and Readiness

Community capacity refers to the ability of a community to identify, mobilize, and address health problems. It encompasses leadership, participation, resource availability, social networks, and organizational structures. A community with high capacity has the infrastructure and engagement needed to support health education initiatives.

Community readiness is a related concept that describes how prepared a community is to take action on a specific health issue. A community may have strong capacity in general but may not yet be ready to address a particular concern, perhaps because awareness is low or because the issue is not perceived as a priority.

Assessing both capacity and readiness helps health education specialists determine what type of intervention is appropriate and how much groundwork needs to be laid before a program can succeed.

How Area I Appears on the Exam

Area I questions on the CHES and MCHES exams are typically scenario-based. You might be presented with a situation where a health education specialist has been hired by a county health department and asked to identify the leading health concerns in a specific community. The question will then ask you to select the most appropriate next step, data source, or assessment method.

These questions require you to think critically rather than simply recall facts. You must consider the context, including available resources, the population being served, time constraints, and the purpose of the assessment, before selecting your answer.

Some questions test procedural knowledge, such as the correct order of steps in a needs assessment process. Others test your understanding of specific tools, such as when to use a Likert scale versus an open-ended question. Still others test your ability to interpret data and identify priorities based on assessment findings.

Study Strategies for Area I

Begin by reading through the official NCHEC competency framework for Area I so you understand the full scope of what is covered. Then move to applied study.

Create flashcards that pair each assessment method with its strengths, limitations, and ideal use cases. Practice with scenario-based questions rather than relying on rote memorization. When you encounter a practice question, take time to understand why the correct answer is correct and why the other options fall short.

Connect your Area I study to your understanding of Area II: Planning Health Education, since the findings from a needs assessment directly inform program planning. Understanding this connection will help you answer questions that span multiple Areas.

If you are building a structured study plan, consider starting with Area I since it provides the conceptual foundation that the other Areas build upon.

Pro Tip: After studying each sub-competency, try to write your own scenario-based question. If you can write a realistic question, you understand the material well enough to answer one on the exam.

Connecting to Practice

Area I is not just an exam topic. It is the work that health education specialists do every day. Whether you are conducting a windshield survey of a neighborhood, reviewing county health rankings, facilitating a community forum, or analyzing survey data in a spreadsheet, you are performing the competencies described in Area I.

The professionals who excel in this area are those who approach assessment with genuine curiosity. They ask good questions, listen carefully to community voices, look at data from multiple angles, and resist the urge to jump to solutions before fully understanding the problem.

As you study, keep that professional reality in mind. The exam is testing whether you are prepared to do this work competently. When you master Area I, you are not just passing a test. You are building the skills that make every program you design more effective, more responsive, and more likely to succeed.

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