Developing an Educational Needs Statement

 

The key to the success of an educational program is to determine the reason for its existence in the first place and then design the program to address that reason and solve a problem. The questions below are designed to help you create the building blocks for an effective program that creates a thread from an identified problem to a positive solution.

The Educational Needs statement should not be a description of what will be covered during the session.

 


 

What is the problem your program will address?

 

1 — Think about WHY there is a need for the program, not WHAT will be accomplished.

 

What areas in practice or professional settings does your target audience find challenging? The issue can be at the individual level, the group level, the community level, etc. For example:

  • Difficult-to-manage or non-resolvable cases
  • Leadership or communication abilities
  • Prevalent public health problems
  • System-based limitations
  • Sub-optimal patient outcomes
  • Staying abreast of guidelines, trends, best practices
  • Adherence to policy, regulation

 

What are the contributing factors? What is it that the audience is not doing (current practice) that they should/could be doing (ideal practice) that is contributing to the existence of the problem? Examples might include:

  • Lack of preparation for policy or organizational change
  • Not fully implementing new guidelines or best practices
  • Screening or treatment protocols that could be improved
  • Encountering barriers of institutional bias/culture
  • Suboptimal patient outreach or communication

 

2 — State the problem as a deficit in knowledge and/or skills of the intended audience.

 

Consider the contributing factor that directly involves your intended audience. For example, there may be statistics indicating the negative effect of health disparities on academic performance – an overall problem. However, you are looking to further identify what specifically your audience is not doing or able to do in practice or their professional setting that is a contributing factor.

 

Examples:

  • The management of chronic pain by many primary care providers hasn’t changed even though there are new research-based guidelines about safer prescribing.
  • Campus health professionals do not consistently identify university students with food insecurity in order to facilitate timely and appropriate referrals to campus and community partners.

 


 

How was this problem discovered?

 

How did you determine the problem exists (supporting evidence) and identify what your learners need to solve it? Sources can include:

  • Data from research findings
  • Data from health assessments, surveys, performance measures, outcome data, record audits, etc.
  • Guidelines from public health organizations or professional societies
  • New or updated products, technology
  • New or updated methods or indications
  • Legislative or organizational policies, mandates, regulations
  • Trends in healthcare, practice, treatment modalities and/or technology
  • Subject matter expert opinion
  • Discussion, consensus, or requests from target audience/stakeholders (formal or informal)
  • Observed performance
  • Industry media

 


 

How will your program objectives address what participants need to know (facts, information) and/or know how to do (skills, strategies, judgments) in order to resolve the problem you’ve identified above?

 

Describe the intended outcome of your program — what do you expect the intended audience to know or be able to do (it can be a combination of both) that will eliminate the deficit you’ve identified previously.

Your expected outcome should align with what you have determined to be the reason why the audience is not doing what they should/could be doing. Do they lack information or training? Do they not have the ability to perform a skill? Do they not have the ability to transfer their knowledge and skills into the practice or professional setting?

TIP: The solution does not have to be the reverse of your stated problem. It can be a specific element that you’ve determined will contribute to improvement.

 

Examples: