Public health practitioners need more guidance in collaborating with hospitals and other health care providers to prevent chronic disease, according to a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

[Photo: Dr. Timothy McBride]

In the spring of 2013, researchers conducted a national survey of 904 state-level chronic-disease public health practitioners, asking whether they collaborated with health care systems such as hospitals, outpatient clinics, and federally qualified health centers.

Eighty-four percent of the respondents reported collaboration, most often on tobacco control, cardiovascular health, and cancer screening. Respondents who collaborated were more likely to use The Guide to Community Preventive Services and evidence-based decision making.  Still, other sources indicate patients receive only about half of the recommended clinical preventive services in primary-care settings.

“Much work remains to be done,” concluded the paper, whose lead faculty author is Dr. Timothy McBride, professor at the Brown School. “Systematic guidance is needed to identify collaboration activities that yield high public health impact and improve delivery systems for chronic care.”

The lead author of the paper, published September 4 in Preventing Chronic Disease, was Ms. Lindsay Elliott, an MPH/MSW student at the Brown School.

To read more, click: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/14_0075.htm