GAPS (AMA Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services)

The AMA Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services (GAPS): Recommendations and Rationale is a major breakthrough in the evolution of preventive health services in general and of adolescent preventive services in particular. GAPS is a comprehensive guide for adolescent health professionals that contains several pioneering elements. These elements include (1) providing a framework for the organization and content of "well-adolescent care," (2) offering guidance for parents and families as an essential part of adolescent health care, and (3) dealing with a wide range of adolescent health problems, with an appropriate focus on the behavioral, emotional, and developmental aspects.