Developing the Guide to Community Preventive Services - Overview and rationale

When the first volume of the Guide is published in 2001, it will represent the first installment of a significant national effort in encouraging evidence-based public health practice in communities, including populations of beneficiaries enrolled in managed care plans. The Guide will make recommendations regarding public health interventions that (1) change risk behaviors; (2) reduce diseases, injuries, and impairments that account for a large portion of the burden of illness, disability, and premature death in the United States; and (3) address environmental and ecosystem challenges, with particular emphasis on sociocultural influences on community health and quality of life. The Task Force on Community Preventive Services, the 15-member, nonfederal, independent panel of experts overseeing the development of the Guide, invites its diverse audience to keep abreast of information regarding the Guide during the remainder of its development and pilot-testing phases. We invite readers of this article to scrutinize the work in progress, to share ideas with the contributors, and to provide input in areas of expertise or interest. When the Guide is complete, we ask you to consider critically the value of its contents, especially the portions that are relevant to your work.