Commentary on the emerging Guide to Community Preventive Services from a health promotion perspective.

ABSTRACT

PIP This paper presents the comments of authors Lawrence Green and Marshall Kreuter on the emerging Guide to Community Preventive Services of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services from a health promotion perspective. In terms of the framework, the authors discerned a shift of behavior from its previous position of risk factors to the position of intermediate outcome. This was found to be a refreshing departure from the single-minded focus other professions and sectors have come to expect of the health professions and sciences. The considerable emphasis placed on the intended practitioner and policy-maker audiences has pleased the authors. However, effective implementation can be a challenge to the partners involved in the process. In addition, limitations have been identified in the Task Force's methods. The limitation in the time frame for published studies tends to extend to modest time frames of most grants. This could be addressed by constructing a continuous, interactive system for gathering information about prevention research and practice as part of the infrastructure of the public health system.^ieng