This is a sample needs assessment conducted for the Ouagadougou Partnership, a coalition of government officials, religious leaders, civil society members, and youth representatives from nine countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo—working in collaboration with donors to improve family planning outcomes in the region.

The Knowledge Management Index (KM Index) is an assessment tool, developed by The Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project, to examine an organization or project’s use of KM practices, identify opportunities for improvement and, map out an action plan to strengthen the KM capacity. The KM Index measures the capacity in four fundamental KM practice areas: 1) organizational structure (KM vision and strategy), 2) learning opportunities (professional development), 3) internal KM culture (seeking out and sharing knowledge), and 4) KM for global health (effort to advance global health agenda).

The Knowledge for Health (K4Health) project developed this guide in order to walk others through the process of assessing information needs among individuals working at different levels of the health system; to share lessons learned and tips for various methodologies; and to provide tools that can be used or adapted in future assessments. It is intended to be a useful reference material for all health professionals, including policy makers, program managers, and health care providers.

A sample concept note that includes the following sections: Objectives, Background and Rationale, Methodology, Process to Follow, Recruitment, Data Analysis, Use of the Results, Timeline, and Ethics Approval.

The goals of this training presentation are:

• Review different needs assessment methodologies
• Discuss data analysis approaches and synthesis of findings
• Outline the process for dissemination of findings
   

This activity allows participants to analyze the current knowledge sharing and management situation that their key audience is facing, discuss what they already know about the situation versus what they do not know, and specify appropriate methods to collect new information required to design effective knowledge management activities to improve the situation.

The goal of Step 1 in the Knowledge Management (KM) Road Map is to understand the extent of the health program challenge and identify how KM can help solve it. This presentation in the Step 1 training module provides an overview of the key tasks involved in completing Step 1 of the Road Map. It starts with explaining what a needs assessment is, particularly as it relates to knowledge management, and why needs assessments are important to designing KM interventions.

The Trainer Guide to each training module in the KM Training Package should be the starting point for the Trainer when developing training sessions around each module. The Trainer Guide describes the purpose of the training module, the total estimated time needed to deliver the module, and learning objectives of the module, and it provides a detailed sample agenda outlining how to piece together the different presentations, exercises, and breaks into a coherent session.

Knowledge management (KM) is a growing strategic area in the field of global health and development. Over the past 15 years, global health professionals have come to recognize the value of KM as an approach to better share and apply knowledge and expertise at global and local levels to improve health.