Minnesota Institute of Public Health

Think of community-level assessment as a three-legged stool.

The first leg is comprised of data on actual use rates: To what extent do young people and adults in the community actually use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs? To what extent do they gamble? We typically obtain these data from school, adult, or household surveys. This information lets us know to what extent ATOD and gambling problems actually exist in the community.

The second leg is an "infrastructure" assessment: What agencies exist in the community to deal with alcohol, tobacco, other drug abuse and gambling problems? What resources are in place? How do community leaders view these issues? When meetings are held in the community to discuss ATOD and gambling problems, what sectors are represented, and what are their views?

The third leg assesses resident attitudes and community norms. How do residents view ATOD and gambling problems in the community? How prepared do they feel to take action? How much support would they lend to dealing with these issues? This is where the Community Readiness Survey comes in. If we gather data on acutal use rates, conduct a formal or informal infrastructure assessment, and have information on resident attitudes and community norms, we have a fairly complete picture of the community regarding ATOD abuse and problem gambling.