On February 16-17, 2011, PHF staff members attended the USPSTF meeting in Atlanta.  Task Force members, consultants, liaison organization representatives, and CDC research fellows came together to propose and discuss potential new material for The Guide to Community Preventive Services.

 

The Community Guide is a free resource that provides evidence-based findings and recommendations about public health interventions and policies to improve health and promote safety.

 

Initial presentations were made about interventions suggested for inclusion in The Community Guide, which prevent and decrease cases of pandemic influenza, excessive alcohol consumption, and Cardiovascular Disease.

 

Both the effectiveness and economic efficiency of school dismissals for reducing the transmission of pandemic influenza in communities was evaluated.  It was found that overall, school dismissals reduce or delay transmission of pandemic influenza in communities.  However, because there are both direct and indirect costs associated with closing schools, this intervention appears to be cost-effective only when influenza attack and mortality rates are high.  Click here for The Community Guide’s vaccination recommendations as another method of preventing and controlling influenza.

 

The effects of alcohol retail privatization on excessive alcohol consumption and related harms were also researched and presented.  Findings indicated that privatization results in large increases in consumption of privatized alcoholic beverages, while non-privatized beverage consumption decreases minimally.  Click here for The Community Guide’s interventions to reduce excessive alcohol consumption.

 

Because heart disease is the leading cause of death in American adults, accounting for one in every three deaths, the case was made that this public health challenge should be addressed in The Community Guide.  The potential focus and scope of Cardiovascular Disease as a Community Guide topic was examined.

 

Research to update current Community Guide interventions regarding vaccination rates and skin cancer was also brought in front of the Task Force.  Incentive rewards, monetary sanctions, and clinic-based client education were presented as potential ways to improve vaccination rates in children, adolescents, and adults, while it was suggested that the current Community Guide mass media and community-wide, multicomponent interventions to reduce skin cancer be updated to include current research.  In addition, because regular sunscreen use is linked to reduction in skin cancer risk, this was introduced as another potential Community Guide intervention to prevent skin cancer.

 

The Task Force on Community Preventive Services is an independent, nonfederal, volunteer body of public health and prevention experts that meets three times a year.  Their next meeting will take place in June during which they will discuss these reviewed topics, as well as new interventions to address public health challenges.

 

The Public Health Foundation (PHF) is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other partner organizations to promote The Community Guide.  Click here to learn more about our efforts, or visit www.thecommunityguide.org to access all findings and recommendations.

 

Have you been using Community Guide recommendations?  We want to hear about it!  Email us at olivia@phf.org to share your story.