 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Larry Cohen, MSW, Prevention Institute, 265 29th Street, Oakland, CA 94611, 510-444-7738, larry@preventioninstitute.org
The Spectrum of Prevention is a systematic tool that promotes a multifaceted range of activities for effective prevention. Developed by Larry Cohen while working in county government as Director of Prevention Programs at the Contra Costa County Health Department, the Spectrum was based on the work of Marshall Swift in treating developmental disabilities.
Increasingly there is an understanding that individual behavior is shaped by environmental factors. Therefore, there is a need for public health practitioners to move beyond an education approach to broader efforts that produce environmental change. The Spectrum identifies multiple activity levels for such an approach. The Spectrum has been used in tobacco prevention, violence and unintentional injury prevention, lead prevention, communicable disease prevention, and the promotion of physical activity and nutrition.
The Spectrum includes six levels for strategy development. These are: strengthening individual knowledge and skills, promoting community education, educating providers, fostering coalitions and networks, changing organizational practices, and influencing policy and legislation. The levels are complimentary and when used together produce a synergy that results in greater effectiveness than would be possible by implementing any single activity or linear initiative.
The Spectrum assists practitioners and community-based organizations develop comprehensive, and multi-faceted prevention initiatives that result in environmental and norms change. This is an opportunity to put socioecological approach into practice.
This presentation will describe the overall approach of the Spectrum with particular emphasis on how it aids in the elimination of health disparities.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.