In 1978, The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) created the Massachusetts Prevention Centers (MPC), forming a statewide infrastructure to deliver specialized prevention services to local communities. Today, ten regional Prevention Centers promote and support community based prevention to create and sustain healthy communities in over 250 local cities and towns.
Massachusetts Prevention Center services include: 1. Community Health Planning, 2. Program Development, 3. Organization Development for emerging community based organizations, 4. Professional Development for prevention practitioners (including school health professionals, youth workers, and program managers), 5. Evaluation, and 6. Resources (each Prevention Center maintains a public health lending library, linked with the statewide network of MA Public Libraries). Over 80 Master’s level Massachusetts Prevention Center System staff work in partnership with local communities to reduce health disparities and achieve improved health outcomes.
The MPC System has facilitated an increase in: community participation in planning for local health; resident access to health promotion and prevention resources, prioritizing populations in greatest need; capacity of community organizations to utilize health data and improve health planning skills; youth-adult collaboration in community programs; rapid dissemination of new technologies and science based prevention to practitioners in the field.
While the benefits have been clear, the complexity of a large state funded prevention system presents numerous challenges for the state health department as well as the contracted vendors. These challenges include contracting for “community-responsive” services, maintaining support for broad public health improvement efforts with categorical state and federal dollars, contract management issues, and outcome measurement.
Learning Objectives: As a result of this session, the participants will be able to: 1. Describe the essential elements of the MA infrastructure which supports prevention programs across the state, including the state health department, the vendor network, the community coalitions and other groups; 2. Identify the six main prevention support services offered by a regional prevention center; 3. Discuss the benefits of service delivery through the prevention center infrastructure, including increased resident involvement in community health planning and evaluation, increased collaboration and skill in utilizing tools and resources, and the rapid dissemination of new technologies in prevention; 4. Analyze the challenges presented by working with a complex state-funded system, including maintaining integrated approaches to public health problems with categorical funding, contracting for services which respond to state priorities and community needs, and outcome measurement
Keywords: Prevention, Infrastructure
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Massachusetts Department of Public Health
The Massachusetts Prevention Center System
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am an employee of the MA Department of Public Health. MDPH contracts with the MPC's to provide services for the state.