Policy research for disease prevention: Challenges and practical recommendations

Policy approaches to health promotion and disease prevention hold great potential, as several community-based projects have illustrated. Policy interventions, despite their widespread use, frequently lack a systematic framework for implementation and evaluation. The authors propose a four- stage framework for the formation and evaluation of public health policy. The stages are identification of health risks and preventive options; intervention development; policy development; and policy enactment and assurance. A strong focus on evaluation is included within the framework. In addition, a series of practical implications and recommendations are given under the broad headings of evaluation issues and linkages. It is hoped that the issues described will lead to more systematic implementation and evaluation of public health policy measures.