FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Prevention Institute?

Prevention Institute is a nonprofit, national center dedicated to improving community health and well-being by building momentum for effective primary prevention. Primary prevention means taking action to build resilience and to prevent problems before they occur. The Institute's work is characterized by a strong commitment to community participation and promotion of equitable health outcomes among all social and economic groups. Since its founding in 1997, the organization has focused on injury and violence prevention, traffic safety, health disparities, nutrition and physical activity, and youth development.

What do you prevent?

Rather than directly "preventing" things ourselves, we work with governments, communities, and organizations to establish effective prevention programs and policies. Prevention Institute is dedicated to promoting a new discipline of prevention that works to address the primary causes of health and well-being. Our work increases public and professional understanding of prevention, emphasizes the development and implementation of prevention strategies, and takes a cross disciplinary focus.

Prevention Institute works to prevent organizations and agencies from working "in silos" by promoting collaborative approaches. Collaboration Math is a Prevention Institute tool that helps to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration and strategy development.

Prevention Institute works to prevent organizations and communities from 'reinventing the wheel' by applying the solutions achieved in one field to challenges confronted in the next. Prevention Institute conducts research across a number of disciplines from tobacco prevention, to injury prevention, from physical activity promotion to environmental health to provide our partners and clients with greater awareness about the approaches that have led to public health successes. The Spectrum of Prevention is a Prevention Institute tool that delineates all the elements that are needed to mobilize a community to develop comprehensive strategies that have the greatest chance for success.

Prevention Institute helps coalitions and collaboratives to prevent duplications in efforts by fostering networks. We have developed a series of tools to assist people working in coalitions to be more effective. Eight Steps to Effective Coalitions is a tool that guides people who are working to create an effective coalition or those who are interested in increasing the effectiveness of an existing collaborative.

Prevention Institute is working to prevent individual and community suffering by training the next generation of leaders in primary prevention. We recognize that new participants, partners and leaders are needed to keep the field of prevention vital and cutting edge. Partnerships for Preventing Violence was a 3-year distance learning series that trained violence prevention professionals in major skill-building arenas of coalition building and strategy development and has been a catalyst for local initiatives across the country.

What is unique about Prevention Institute's approach?

Reducing current rates of disease and injury is not a simple task. Given the complexity of many health and social issues, primary prevention is an approach that can address these issues and limit the costs and anguish associated with them. Too often, prevention strategies focus on individuals without taking into account their social and physical environment. Prevention Institute moves beyond approaches that target one person at a time to create systematic, comprehensive strategies that change conditions affecting health. For example, an effort to encourage children to eat more nutritious food should address a host of environmental factors, such as the availability of fresh produce in local stores, the presence of snack and beverage vending machines on school campuses, and junk food advertising aimed at children.

Prevention Institute builds on the successes of a variety of fields and applies them to new challenges. Despite the many examples of successful primary prevention -- from increasing safety-belt use to banning lead in paint -- the essential elements of effective prevention are generally not well understood by policymakers and practitioners. Prevention Institute believes that a consistent approach, combining ideas from a range of disciplines that have traditionally worked independently of one another, is necessary to ensure that prevention efforts are systematic and comprehensive. By linking practices from public health, education, urban planning, social work, and other fields, communities can create conditions for healthier living.

What makes you different from other prevention organizations?

Prevention Institute is distinguished by its comprehensive view of community health and wellness. We are different from other organizations that aim to promote health and wellness in several ways. First, few others focus only on primary prevention. Second, most organizations address a single issue or set of issues, such as AIDS, chronic disease, violence, or substance abuse. Because our philosophy is that "a good solution solves multiple problems," we work across disciplines and issues. Third, many groups primarily attempt to educate individuals. In contrast, our approach emphasizes community-driven initiatives tailored to the specific needs of culturally diverse communities. We are particularly interested in prevention as a key strategy to address health and social disparities across race, ethnicity, and economic lines. Finally, rather than using isolated approaches to each different kind of injury and illness, we facilitate coalition building, train professionals and emerging leaders; and create and disseminate tools that help communities develop programs to prevent a range of problems.

What is primary prevention?

Primary prevention involves taking action to prevent problems from occurring before the onset of symptoms. It focuses on environmental or systemic changes that are aimed at entire populations, such as an entire community, rather than treating one individual at a time.

About twenty years ago, a metaphor about "going upstream" was created to help explain the value of prevention. Today, that metaphor still works well for creating new converts. Suppose you are standing next to a river, and you see someone drowning as he floats downstream. You jump into the river and pull him ashore. As soon as you've done that, you see another person in trouble, again floating downstream, and you rescue her as well. Every time you've saved one person, you see another, and another. After you've dragged another drowning body out of the river, you're thoroughly exhausted and you know you don't have the energy to save one more victimso instead you decide you must go upstream to find out what is causing these people to drown. If you can prevent whatever is causing these people to drown at the source, you won't have to continue saving the victims, one by one. Eventually, you find that people are falling into the river because they are stepping through a hole in a bridge. You fix the bridge, and people stop falling in. Primary prevention means "going upstream" and fixing the bridge before more people fall into the river. This takes fewer resources, and results in less pain and suffering than pulling each drowning person out of the river.

Today, too many efforts are focused "downstream." While these efforts are important, directing a larger percentage of resources "upstream" will more effectively reduce human suffering, medical costs, productivity losses, injury and death.

What is environmental or systemic change?

Far more than air or water, the term environment also means "anything external to individuals shared by members of the community." It is very difficult for an individual to be healthy in an unhealthy environment. People don't necessarily stop doing something because they know it is bad for them. Rather, people live in environments that support, encourage, and enable decisions and behaviors that either support or inhibit well-being. Also, many environmental factors impact health, safety, and well-being, such as product design, air and water quality, street design, and access to health and social services, and education. Prevention efforts that include attention to these issues will have the broadest impact on indicators of health and well-being.

Prevention Institute employs a systems-oriented approach aimed at creating healthier and safer environments. Our comprehensive approaches extend beyond individual education to working to influence policy and legislation, change organizational practices, foster networks and coalitions, educate relevant providers, and promote community education.

What kinds of expertise and assistance does Prevention Institute offer?

The combined expertise of Prevention Institute staff spans a variety of health issues and prevention methodologies, with an emphasis on coalition-building and systemic change. Among the services the Institute provides are training, technical assistance, research, and evaluation for coalitions, community-based organizations, government agencies, private foundations, and others. In addition to working directly with communities and institutions, Prevention Institute develops tools and other materials to support the crafting, implementation, and evaluation of prevention initiatives. Tools include The Spectrum of Prevention, Developing Effective Coalitions: An Eight Step Guide, and Evolution to Effective Prevention. All Prevention Institute materials are available at no cost on the website.

Who is your audience?

As a focal point for prevention in the U.S. Our primary audience extends beyond community members themselves to the groups and organizations that have the potential to maximize prevention efforts. Prevention Institute serves a broad audience, working with policymakers, professionals, and community members at the local, state, and national level. Our audience also includes foundations and other funders, community organizations, HMOs and other health providers, insurance companies, business, voluntary organizations, health, social service, justice, and law enforcement practitioners, policy makers, and educators.

Where does your funding come from?

A mixture of funding sources, including foundations, local, state, and federal government contracts, and fees for consulting and training, supports our work. Funders have included the U.S. Office of Minority Health, The California Endowment, Harvard School of Public Health, The California Wellness Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Prevention Institute is a consultant to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Region IX, assisting with injury prevention efforts.

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Putting Prevention at the Center of Community Well Being
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