Information and Referral Services: A Brief History

What is information and referral (I&R) service? The most widely accepted definition of I&R is “the active process of linking a person with a need or problem with a service which will meet the need or solve the problem.” For example, this type of service would provide detailed information, including contact information, mailing address, telephone number, etc., about where a person could go to receive childhood immunizations. There are three basic requirements of an I&R service: creation of a resource file, distribution of the information, and updating the file. I&R services were originally created to serve the disadvantaged members of underserved areas, but few actually served this population exclusively or even primarily.