Needs Assessment
Before
a mentor can provide useful on-site training, he or she must have an
understanding of the trainee's knowledge, skills, and capability. The
value of a mentor's guidance and advice will be influenced by its applicability
within the context of the trainee's health care setting. The assessment
tools in this toolkit can help mentors gather assessment information
on both individual providers and the facilities in which they work. The
tools make use of a variety of methods, including direct observation,
case study reviews, and key informant interviews.
I-TECH's clinical mentoring approach includes a system in which mentors are able to guide trainees in an assessment process to identify areas for improvement during and after the mentorship. This is a training-of-trainer approach, which builds the trainee's capacity to identify areas for improvement within their own facility. Tools for guiding assessments were developed to meet the needs of projects across the I-TECH network, each having its own context and scope.
Assessment tools have been divided into provider-level and systems-level instruments. Provider Competencies includes tools to assess clinical and professional skills of individual providers. Systems level assessment tools are useful for understanding the context in which care is delivered. Some of these tools will reappear in the Monitoring and Evaluation section as they can be used to measure improvements in provider practices or systems over time.