The Community Guide
How To Use Interventions
The Community Guide can be used by boards of health in many ways, including:
Policy Development
Policy development is a process that takes place at the local, state, and federal level. Every board of health throughout the country has an integral role in public health policy development. Public health laws and policies are proven to positively effect population health and reduce long-term medical and other costs.
Examples of evidence-based policies within the Community Guide include:
- Broad-based policies, such as smoking bans and laws
- Targeted laws, such as child safety seat laws
- Educational requirements, such as vaccinations for child care and school attendance
- Community-wide interventions, such as water fluoridation
Board of Health members can use the Community Guide to:
- Identify the cost of specific laws and policies that promote public health
- Advise policy-makers on scientifically proven interventions
- Draft evidence-based policies and legislation
- Justify funding decisions and proposals
- Support policies and legislation that promote public health and work to change those that do not
Return to Top
Programs or Services
Evidence-based interventions can be selected to help achieve priority area objectives. The Community Guide is also a valuable complement to the Clinical Guide to Preventive Services, assisting health care professionals in improving the health of individuals and populations and promoting partnerships to plan and implement effective strategies.
Program planning is a multi-step process that starts by defining the problem and developing an evaluation plan. While specific steps may vary throughout the process, a feedback loop with findings from an evaluation is typically included in order to improve processes and performance.
Worksite Health Promotion designs and implements employee wellness programs, policies, and interventions, such as:
These and other successful community health campaigns and programs are often achieved through partnerships with boards of health, city councils, employers, school boards, and other local and state organizations. The Community Guide includes many recommendations for effective Community Health Interventions, such as:
Return to Top
-
Funding
Boards of Health can use the Community Guide to assist in approving funds and in seeking funds for specific policies and programs. The systematic review of the available literature on evidence of effectiveness and economic efficiency allows boards of health to direct limited and appropriate resources to projects that have been shown to be effective in improving public health outcomes. As the leadership body, boards of health should encourage all program staff to use evidence-based resources for program design, implementation, and evaluation. Boards of Health seeking funds can also add credibility to funding requests by utilizing the systematic review process found in the Community Guide. Using the Community Guide also saves time because findings, references, and recommendations are readily available for use, while complementing existing decision support tools such as health data, performance objectives, and model programs.
Research
Research and evidence are critical components in continuing the advancement of the Community Guide. Research agendas exist for each topic area the Task Force reviews. These agendas identify where more or better studies are needed to address questions about effectiveness, applicability, and harms.
In part, research agendas are influenced by field examples. Boards of Health that record their story preparing for, using, and assessing of the Community Guide contribute to the advancement of public health across the nation. By identifying how an intervention works in real communities and in real time allows the Task Force to better define the value of and resources needed for evidence-based public health interventions.
Return to Top
Education
The Community Guide is an excellent education tool for public health professionals and board of health members. The Community Guide can be used as a teaching tool to cover fundamental concepts such as: a systematic review process, evidence-based public health, and independent, science-based decision-making in public health. It can also be used to promote worksite health promotion programs for health agency employees, business partners, and community members. Visit the Community Guide Website to learn how employers and administrators can use the Community Guide to design for employees, faculty, and staff.
For questions about the Community Guide, contact NALBOH.
Return to Top
Page updated 2/17/2012.
© Copyright 2012, NALBOH
