This paper examines the "needs" approach as it is used in curriculum and program planning in continuing education. The paper is divided into six sections. Part 1, the introduction, examines the general issue of curriculum and program planning in continuing education, the conventional sources for curricula, and reasons for the attractiveness of the "needs" approach. Part 2 reviews the main types of needs as used in continuing education literature. After a number of the problems associated with using a needs approach in planning are discussed in detail in part 3, a model for gaining an overview of the process is suggested in part 4, and a brief case study illustrates the process (part 5). The final section considers the possible political orientations of the needs approach and reviews a framework for assessing these orientations. A bibliography is included. (The author is a New Zealander studying adult education in Sweden.) (KC)