How to Conduct a Rapid Community Assessment

A guide to understanding your community's vaccination needs

Key points

  • Rapid community assessment (RCA) is a process for quickly collecting community insights about a public health issue in order to inform program design.
  • The assessment involves reviewing existing data and conducting community-based interviews, listening sessions, observations, digital listening, and surveys.
  • This assessment guide and tools are for those who wish to better understand their community's needs regarding vaccine acceptance and uptake among adults, adolescents, and children.

Why should you conduct a rapid community assessment?

  • To identify communities at risk for low vaccine uptake among adults, adolescents, or children.
  • To understand what communities are thinking about vaccines for adults, adolescents, and children, and plan for potential solutions to increase confidence and uptake.
  • To identify community leaders, trusted messengers, and other important channels through which you can reach communities.
  • To identify areas of intervention and prioritize potential intervention strategies to increase vaccine confidence and uptake.

RCA guide and addendums

Rapid Community Assessment Guide 2023

Full Rapid Community Assessment Guide

RCA Guide Addendum Tribal Communities

Addendum: Considerations for Conducting Rapid Community Assessment in Tribal Communities

RCA Guide Addendum Adolescent

Addendum: Considerations for Conducting Rapid Community Assessment in Adolescent Populations and Digital Contexts

RCA Guide Addendum Farm Workers

Addendum: Considerations for Conducting Rapid Community Assessment in Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Communities

RCA Guide Addendum RIM

Addendum: Considerations for Conducting Rapid Community Assessment with Refugee, Immigrant, and Migrant Communities

RCA toolkit

Download, edit, or print Word versions of the tools: RCA Toolkit

RCA Toolkit includes:

  • Vaccine Efforts Learning Template
  • Implementation Guide for Community Interviews and Listening Sessions
  • Observation
  • Intercept Interviews
  • Digital Listening and Monitoring Tools
  • Insights Synthesis Tool

Additional resources