The Task Force on Community Preventive Services has added three evidence-based recommendations to The Community Guide, which address health communication and social marketing, and universal vaccination coverage.

 

The recommendation surrounding health communication and social marketing campaigns outlines an intervention to effectively facilitate the adoption of a desired health behavior through the distribution of an evidence-based, health-related product.  To successfully change behavior, the Task Force recommends that health communication and social marketing campaigns couple multiple channels of communication, one of which must be mass media, with the distribution of the product for free or at a reduced cost.  Learn more about this recommendation. 

 

In order to increase vaccination rates in targeted populations, the Task Force recommends healthcare system-based interventions that combine one intervention to increase the targeted population’s demand for vaccinations with one or more interventions that enhance their access to vaccinations and/or that are directed at vaccination providers or systems.  Vaccination reminder and recall systems, clinic-based education, and manual outreach and tracking are the preferred interventions to increase demand for vaccinations.  Access to vaccinations can be enhanced through the following: expanding access in healthcare settings, reducing out-of-pocket costs, and making home visits, while vaccination providers or systems can be targeted with interventions such as provider reminders, standing orders, and provider assessment and feedback.  Learn more about this recommendation. 

 

Immunization information systems are named as another way to effectively increase vaccination rates and reduce instances of vaccine-preventable diseases due to their ability to create and support effective interventions, generate and evaluate public health responses to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, facilitate vaccine management and accountability, determine client vaccination status for healthcare decision-makers, and aid surveillance and investigations on vaccination disparities.  Learn more about this recommendation. 

 

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