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Scope of National Chronic Disease Prevention Priorities in the United States
Author(s) -
Arabi Mandana,
Beaudreault Amy,
Mclean Mireille,
Shlisky Julie
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.273.3
Subject(s) - incentive , psychological intervention , scope (computer science) , business , disease , public relations , medicine , environmental health , public economics , psychology , political science , nursing , economics , pathology , computer science , programming language , microeconomics
Chronic disease (CD) and disability account for nearly half of the US burden of disease. While key risk factors driving CD respond to preventive interventions such as behavior change, decisive, integrated and systematic action within the health system targeting modifiable risks is still limited. This study aimed to describe perceived priorities and challenges of CD prevention in the US, focusing on several risk factors including diet and physical activity. One‐on‐one interviews (n=74) with experts across sectors brought forth seven reoccurring themes. A workshop in September 2014 utilized the outcomes of qualitative research to prioritize CD prevention approaches and rank prevention strategies in an anonymous questionnaire. Expert interviews produced several reemerging themes: inadequate political will, difficulty of sustained behavior change, and industry resistance to change (due to misaligned incentives, lack of access to information/tools and too much focus on treatment). Barriers cited included lack of financial incentives to healthcare providers, inadequate community participation, and poorly targeted public communication. Anonymous questionnaires highlighted the changes to the physical environment as a prioritized opportunity to affect nutrition outcomes. These results highlight different perceptions among experts and decision makers of both priorities and strategies to reduce risk for CD. Consensus on a unified, prioritized agenda with broad multi‐sectoral commitment needs to be built to scale‐up preventive strategies and address the increasing burden of CD related to nutrition and physical activity.