Population health and the availability of primary prevention services in 3 NYC neighborhoods

The ACA’s emphasis on clinical prevention, screening and population health has hastened the integration of traditional public health functions, which prioritize disease and injury prevention, with primary medical care services. These changes, in addition to ACA related increases in health services access, signal an opportunity to dramatically improve population health. However, in 2013, more than half of all funding dedicated to the Public Health and Prevention Trust Fund was spent on direct medical care or medical support services, not primary prevention. Increased screening, while important for disease detection, does little to reduce the incidence or prevalence of disease within or across populations. This project set out to train graduate students in community assessment methodologies to identify primary prevention activities in three neighborhoods of NYC using trained student teams. A local community health center selected the health focus area from the NY Prevention Agenda. Using a standard assessment tool, student teams will canvas the corresponding neighborhood (April, 2014) to identify evidence-based primary prevention activities provided through community-based organizations and schools. Primary prevention activities will be mapped against neighborhood disease prevalence using NYC data and the local health center's screening and treatment rates. Results from the study will identify the availability of primary prevention in a given neighborhood, offer opportunities to address primary prevention gaps and to improve population health. Findings will be shared with local leaders and others to foster community health planning.