Community Needs Assessment & Program Planning

Community Needs Assessment & Program Planning

From RD Exam Ready Podcast by Zak Kaesberg MS, RD

April 7, 2026 · 20 min

About this episode

Zak Kaesberg discusses Community Needs Assessments and program planning to prepare listeners for the RD Exam.

In this episode of the RD Exam Ready Podcast, Zak breaks down Community Needs Assessments and program planning to help you feel confident tackling these concepts on exam day. This episode focuses on how to approach community nutrition questions, understand the flow of a needs assessment, and apply critical thinking to identify the next best step in a given scenario. This episode emphasizes how to think through questions the way the RD Exam expects—focusing on sequence, decision-making, and practical application—then wraps up with practice questions to help you apply what you’ve learned. Want the notes from live sessions and updates on new episodes? Join the email list here: http://eepurl.com/jvGxaA When you subscribe, you’ll get notified about new podcast episodes, upcoming YouTube Lives, and receive PDF notes from live review sessions directly to your inbox. Follow RD Exam Ready for more exam prep: Instagram: @RDExamReady TikTok: @RDExamReady YouTube: RD Exam Ready Listen or watch the podcast anywhere: https://feeds.transistor.fm/rd-exam-ready-podcast Subscribe, rate, and share with your study group. Happy Studying, RD2Be 💙

People in this episode

Host: Zak Kaesberg MS, RD

Topics covered

  • Community Needs Assessment
  • program planning
  • community nutrition
  • exam preparation
  • critical thinking

Keywords

  • Community Needs Assessment
  • program planning
  • nutrition questions
  • exam prep
  • critical thinking

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