Public Health Practice Guidelines

This case study traces the development of public health practice guidelines as initially proposed by the Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice to the current priority for a Guide to Community Preventive Services. The merits of guidelines are described in improving the application of scientific advances to public health practice. Initial questions of feasibility and availability of scientific evidence for public health decisions were explored through a project funded for a two-year period. Controversy surrounding the proposal for guidelines was largely related to the priority this large task should receive and what entities were to be involved in their development.