Review the Results of the Community Assessment Projects in Areas Covered by Health Centers in Iran During the Years 1992-2013

Community assessment is a key tool for improving and promoting the health of the community. The role of community assessment is to identify the most important factors affecting the population health. To get a comprehensive picture of problems, priorities and suggested community health action plans in Iran, this review aims to summarize community assessments in various areas of Iran conducted between 1992 – 2013. This study was a retrospective review in which community assessments were compared and the results of several studies conducted in different regions of the country covering both rural and urban health centers were analyzed. Since 1999, department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics has conducted these community assessments in eight phases and follows 2002 North Carolina Community Health Assessment model. Assessment teams typically included MPH students and/ or PhD and masters (epidemiology) students from the School of Public Health. Data was collected through observation, interview, and focus group discussion. Assessment teams in each region prioritized the list of problems using Hanlon method and Nominal Group Technique. The results identified substance abuse, economical, and water-related problems as the most important problems in different parts of the country which indicates the need for developing a comprehensive action plan andimplementing measures. A review of the community assessments performed in this study shows the ability of community assessment to detect community health problems in all aspects. Therefore, this approach is recommended to evaluate and prioritize health problems and to formulate action plans.