Looking for a handy resource that gives you recommendations on how to best target your community-based health promotion and disease prevention efforts? Look no further than the CDC's Guide to Community Preventive Services. The guide is now available online.
Developed to complement the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's signature publication, Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, the community guide offers public health decision-makers recommendations for population-based interventions that promote health and prevent disease, injury, disability and premature death. The guide's recommendations are tailored for communities and health care systems.
An independent, multidisciplinary Task Force on Community Preventive Services developed the guide and its recommendations. Members of the task force, appointed by the CDC director, represent a wide range of disciplines, including medical, behavioral and social sciences; communications; decision and cost-effectiveness analysis; information systems; and management and policy. The task force also sought and received input from various liaisons from federal agencies and other organizations, including the Academy.
The task force made its recommendations based on systematic literature reviews of topics in three general areas: changing risk behaviors; reducing incidences of disease, injury and impairment; and addressing environmental and ecosystem challenges.
Those recommendations cover a dozen public health areas. Among them: cessation and prevention of tobacco use; nutrition; physical activity; preventable diseases; mental health; sexual behavior; motor vehicle safety; oral health; and violence.
