Community-Based Health Prevention Programs Promote Long-Term Savings

The academy identified 84 articles with evidence showing how community based prevention programs could reduce disease rates or disease progression. Some examples are are:

• In Pawtucket, RI, the Pawtucket Heart Health Program conducted an intervention to educate 71,000 people about heart disease through a mass media campaign and community programs. Five years into the intervention, the risks for cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease had decreased by 16% among community members.
• Researchers at Ohio State University recruited 60 women in their 40s for a 12 week walking program that took place on the college's campus. At three months, the intervention group reported a 1% decrease in body mass index, accompanied by a 3.4% decrease in hypertension, a 3% decrease in cholesterol, and a 5.5% decrease in blood glucose.
• The Rockford (IL) Coronary Health Improvement Project is a community based lifestyle intervention program aimed at reducing coronary risk, especially in a high-risk group. The intervention included a 40 hour educational curriculum delivered over a 30 day period with clinical and nutritional assessments before and after the educational component. At the end of the 30 day intervention period, analyses of total cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose, blood pressure, and weight showed significant reductions.

Recent studies have "questioned the cost-effectiveness of prevention proposals within healthcare reform legislation, [but] we think that there is strong evidence that community based prevention . . . [does] offer a very high return on investment," Boufford said. "By changing the infrastructure in these communities where people live, learn, work, and play, we really can create sustainable change to prevent disease before it occurs and see that return on investment."