WHAT IS COMMUNITY is all the people living in an area or a group or groups of people who share common interests. A community needs assessment provides community leaders with a snapshot of local policy, systems, and environmental change strategies currently in place and helps to identify areas for improvement. WHAT IS COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT is the process of identifying the strengths, assets, needs and challenges of a specified community. Assets refer to the skills, talents and abilities of individuals as well as the resources that local institutions contribute to the community. Community health needs assessment is a process that: 1. describes the state of health of local people; 2. enables the identification of the major risk factors and causes of ill health; and 3. enables the identification of the actions needed to address these.