Stakeholders Revisit Healthy People 2000
to Maximize the Impact of 2010

Chapter 1. Introduction and Background 

• Introduction
• Background

Chapter 2. Findings

• Findings from All Sources
• Major Findings from the Steering Committee
• Findings from the Consortium Focus Groups

Chapter 3. Methods

• Initial Interviews
• Steering Committee Retreat
• Consortium Focus Groups
• Analysis

Chapter 1. Introduction and Background 

Introduction

In planning for Healthy People 2010, the United States Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) enlisted the help of the Center for Health Outcomes Improvement Research (CHOIR) of the George Washington University Medical Center to gather the perspectives and opinions of Healthy People Steering Committee and Consortium members. This report is the result of gathering data from these groups. A total of more than forty hours of information was obtained from meetings and focus group discussions with Healthy People Steering Committee members and with Healthy People Consortium members. Clear themes and creative suggestions emerged to guide the development of the new version of Healthy People.

Background

The Health Objectives for the Nation articulated over the years in "Healthy People" documents serve as a critical foundation in setting a vision for improving the health of Americans through effective prevention. These objectives are designed to guide decisions and mobilize actions by hundreds of organizations and individuals in the public and private sector, at the national, State and local levels.

As the year 2000 approaches, there is a window of opportunity for revisiting the conceptual framework (e.g. the goals, objectives and priorities) used in organizing the key elements of Healthy People for its next iteration, Healthy People 2010. A confluence of factors in the current environment makes it especially important to rethink Healthy People both carefully and creatively. These factors include:

• the increased demand for accountability and results-oriented performance measurement to ensure that government at all levels is doing the best possible job for the public, in a cost-effective manner;
• a similar increase in demands for accountability and documented results from employers and others who pay for personal health services;
• the enormous growth in the use of managed care as an approach to organizing and financing the delivery of personal health care services;
• an increasing recognition of the overlap and complementarity between the population-oriented functions performed by most public health organizations and the individually-oriented functions performed by most personal health care providers; and (unfortunately)
• the continued growth in the number of Americans with no health care coverage at all and thus with severely limited access to needed health care services, including preventive services.

These factors constitute both opportunities and challenges for Healthy People. In many ways, Healthy People represents a model framework for results-oriented performance measurement, one that can be made relevant to both population and personal health care services. Healthy People objectives draw attention to priority needs and problems. They also serve as a "benchmark" or standard of comparison that can be used to assess performance across the nation and progress over time. They highlight the contributions that can be made, indeed must be made, by a wide range of partners, both public and private, in order to improve the health of Americans. Finally, they embody the enduring commitment of public health to address the needs of those with the greatest need and the most constrained resources.

Given this context, it is especially important to re-examine the framework and functionality of Healthy People. Before a new framework is chosen, it is critical to get high quality input and feedback from the people and organizations who have the commitment and resources not only to endorse our nation’s health goals, objectives and priorities, but to take significant action to achieve them. Two groups in particular could be expected both to have creative ideas for revision and thoughtful responses to the ideas of others: the newly expanded Healthy People 2000 Steering Committee, which includes representatives from all agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, and a broad array of organizations who are members of the Healthy People 2000 Consortium including State mental health, substance abuse and environmental agencies.

What's New Fact Sheet 1998 Public Comment  Related Activities
1997 Public Comment Secretary's Council  Consortium
Healthy People 2000 Contact the Staff  2010 Development 2010 Home