Secondary data collection allows you, as a health educator, to analyze data that have previously been collected. Thus, it alleviates the process of developing data collection tools and collecting data. In addition, you can also utilize secondary data to complement primary data. Secondary data collection is also less expensive and less time-consuming than primary data collection. As a health educator, you will often have to depend on secondary data for community health needs assessments. Therefore, it is important for you to understand how to use secondary data collection methods.

For this Discussion, select one case study from this week's resources. Then consider the various types of secondary data collection methods and how they are used in community health needs assessments. Then consider how the community in your selected case study could benefit from secondary data collection findings.

Gilmore, G. D. (2012). Needs and capacity assessment strategies for health education and promotion (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

• Case Study 2, "Public Health Needs Assessment in Waupaca County, Wisconsin: A Guide for Community Health Programs" (pp. 216–241)
• Case Study 3, "Assessment Strategies for a Nutrition and Physical Activity Promotion Project for Licensed Child Care Centers: Los Angeles County Continuing Project" (pp. 242–248)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Retrieved March 21, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/

University of Kansas. (n.d.) Community Tool Box. Chapter 3-section 4: Collecting information about the problem. Retrieved: March 5, 2018: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment…

U. S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/

U. S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). Community facts. Retrieved March 21, 2014, from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/…
Note: One can access useful data many ways at this home page. Take a moment to tour the home page, particularly the topic searches, Quick Facts by State (includes county and city data, too), and Getting Detailed Data.

U. S. Census Bureau. (2014). Thematic maps. Retrieved March 21, 2014, from http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/thematic….

Optional Resources

Daviglus, M. L., Pirzada, A., Durazo‐Arvizu, R., Chen, J., Allison, M., Avilés‐Santa, L., Stamler, J. (2016). Prevalence of Low Cardiovascular Risk Profile Among Diverse Hispanic/Latino Adults in the United States by Age, Sex, and Level of Acculturation: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Journal of the American Heart Association, 5(8). doi:10.1161/jaha.116.003929