What is the CPNAT?
The Community Paramedicine Needs Assessment Tool (CPNAT) is a system level tool designed to support those developing community paramedicine programs. The CPNAT was developed in response to ongoing calls for better guidance on conducting needs assessments for community paramedicine programs.
We use the term community in this tool to refer to any group of people who have something in common – this could be a group of people who share location, culture, experience, characteristics, or interest – and often have intersecting commonalities. For example, those developing community paramedicine programs can use this tool to assess the needs of people experiencing homelessness in a city or town. They can use it to assess the needs of Black Canadians living in a specific neighbourhood or suburb. Or they can use it to explore the needs of Indigenous community members living within or outside of their community…and much more! Program developers can also use the tool more broadly to assess the needs of a designated location, such as a city or region, exploring the needs of a community’s diverse populations.
When can I use the CPNAT?
The CPNAT is designed to be used when developing new programs, or when evaluating and looking to improve existing programs. It is a comprehensive tool that is designed to be conducted in detail at the outset of designing a program, or to inform the need for different types of programs. Undertaking a community needs assessment involves exploring both quantitative and qualitative data and can be broad (examining a city or suburb) or focused (on a specific issue or population – small area analysis)
Who should use the CPNAT?
Community paramedicine leaders should approach conducting needs assessments with humility and a strengths-based approach. Here, health and social care professionals aren’t the experts, rather, community paramedicine is a resource to (and for) community members. This approach recognizes that communities are the experts in their health and social needs and supports communities in self-determination and agency in co-designing community paramedicine programs to best meet community needs.
How do I use the CPNAT?
The CPNAT is available in several formats and can be customized to your unique context under a Creative Commons license. However, we strongly advise that you use the tool in full where possible to gain the most comprehensive and inclusive insights into community needs.
The tool starts with several planning questions that you should ask and document the answers to.
The next section of the tool contains detailed questions and guidance on gathering data that describes various aspects of the community, including physical, social, cultural, educational, and health characteristics among others. We do not prescribe means of collecting or gathering this data. There are many existing resources that can be used, and every community will have differing resources available. We advise that community-led approaches to identifying and gathering data should be prioritized.
The tool then gives an opportunity to prioritize outcomes from the assessment, that should start with community defined priorities using a co-design approach.
Finally, the tool supports documenting follow-up on the outcomes of the needs assessment, and the need to consider the political and contextual influences that will allow for program design and success.
How was the CPNAT developed?
We developed the CPNAT using a rigorous research approach that combined the findings of a literature review, document analysis, and expert feedback. For full details on the development process, and access to additional materials, please visit the CPNAT OSF project at https://osf.io/2d9j6/.
This work was supported by Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC). HEC is an independent, not-for-profit charity funded primarily by Health Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of Health Canada. This publication is provided “as is” and is for informational/educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide specific medical advice or replace the judgment of a healthcare professional. Those preparing and/or contributing to this publication specially disclaim all liability or warranty of any kind, whether express or implied.
Community Paramedicine Needs Assessment Tool © 2024 by Tyne Lunn; Brendan Shannon; Cheryl Cameron; Aman Hussain; Liz Caperon; Alan Batt is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International