Can you do a community assessment without talking to the community?

Conventionally, it has been accepted that an accurate understanding of community views on health topics can only come directly from community members. Yet, even as the need for this data has been increased by managed care, the methods of gathering it from community members remain costly and impractical for most busy practices or communities. This case study was conducted to determine whether well-informed health professionals can accurately and less expensively convey community views on health topics. In a low-income urban community, using a standard set of open-ended questions, focus groups and telephone and mail surveys were used to gather qualitative data from community residents and patients. Extended interviews and key informant surveys were used to gather similar data from health professionals. Data obtained from both sets of respondents were compared for content and logistics of collection. Overall, responses from the two groups had similar content but differing emphases. Community residents tended to emphasize socioeconomic determinants of health and everyday life concerns, while health care workers tended to emphasize the process of care. However, these perspectives were shared across the groups, as was an emphasis on the need for education with regard to community health concerns. The most striking difference between the groups was the community resources each group identified. As expected, costs for the health care worker approaches were less expensive. Findings from this case study suggest limited situations in which health care workers can adequately convey community views. In other situations, the different perspectives of each group can be complementary. Regardless of their role in qualitative data gathering, there remain important roles for community members in planning and decision-making regarding their health care.