And a third example is a recommendation for “the use of regulatory authority (eg, through licensing and zoning) to limit alcohol outlet density on the basis of sufficient evidence of a positive association between outlet density and excessive alcohol consumption and related harms.”8 The CPSTF also recommends increasing taxes on alcohol products to reduce excess alcohol consumption.9
SIDEBAR
An immunization “success story” from the field
Before 2009, the vaccination completion rates for 2-year-olds in Duval County, Florida, consistently ranked below the national target of 90%, with particularly low rates in Jacksonville. With the aim of improving vaccination rates—and not wanting to waste time “reinventing the wheel”—the Duval County Health Department (DCHD) turned to The Community Guide for interventions proven to work synergistically: system-based efforts (eg, client reminders, standing orders, clinic-based education) and community-based efforts (eg, staff outreach to clients, educational activities).
Checking the Florida Shots Registry, clinic staff identified infants and toddlers who were due for, or had missed, vaccinations. They sent monthly reminders to parents, urging them to make appointments. DCHD also provided parents with educational materials, vaccination schedules, and safety evidence to reinforce awareness of the need for immunizations.
At local clinics, DCHD trained staff to administer vaccines and established standing orders authorizing them to do so even in the absence of a physician or other approving practitioner.
DCHD also formed an immunization task force of community stakeholders that worked with hospitals to send nurses and physicians each week to immunize children at churches and other convenient locations.
Within one year, the rate of complete immunization for 2-year-olds rose from 75% to 90%—the national target. DCHD is now applying interventions from The Community Guide to discourage tobacco use and to prevent sexually transmitted infections.
Read the full story at: https://www.thecommunityguide.org/stories/good-shot-reaching-immunization-targets-duval-county.
Reducing health disparities
The CPSTF places a high priority on interventions that can reduce health disparities. Many of their topics of interest focus on interventions to reduce health inequities among racial and ethnic minorities and low-income populations. For instance, the Task Force recommends early childhood education, all-day kindergarten, and after-school academic programs as ways to improve health and decrease health disparities.10
Social determinants of health for individuals and populations are increasingly appreciated as issues to be addressed by physicians and health systems. The CPSTF can serve as a valuable evidence-based resource in these efforts, and their recommendations complement and build on those of other authoritative groups such as the USPSTF, ACIP, and AAFP.