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Sexually
Transmitted Diseases > Program Guidelines > Partner Services
Sections on this page: ForewordThe development of the Comprehensive STD Prevention Systems (CSPS) program announcement marked a major milestone in the efforts of CDC to implement the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine report, The Hidden Epidemic, Confronting Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 1997. With the publication of these STD Program Operation Guidelines, CDC is providing STD programs with the guidance to further develop the essential functions of the CSPS. Each chapter of the guidelines corresponds to an essential function of the CSPS announcement. This chapter on community and individual behavior change interventions is one of nine. With many STDs, such as syphilis, on a downward trend, now is the time to employ new strategies and new ways of looking at STD control. Included in these guidelines are chapters that cover areas new to many STD programs, such as community and individual behavior change, and new initiatives, such as syphilis elimination. Each STD program should use these Program Operation Guidelines when deciding where to place priorities and resources. It is our hope that these guidelines will be widely distributed and used by STD programs across the country in the future planning and management of their prevention efforts. Judith N. Wasserheit IntroductionThese guidelines for STD prevention program operations are based on the essential functions contained in the Comprehensive STD Prevention Systems (CSPS) program announcement. The guidelines are divided into chapters that follow the eight major CSPS sections: Leadership and Program Management, Evaluation, Training and Professional Development, Surveillance and Data Management, Partner Services, Medical and Laboratory Services, Community and Individual Behavior Change, Outbreak Response, and Areas of Special Emphasis. Areas of special emphasis include corrections, adolescents, managed care, STD/HIV interaction, syphilis elimination, and other high-risk populations. The target audience for these guidelines is public health personnel and other persons involved in managing STD prevention programs. The purpose of these guidelines is to further STD prevention by providing a resource to assist in the design, implementation, and evaluation of STD prevention and control programs. The guidelines were developed by a workgroup of 18 members from program operations, research, surveillance and data management, training, and evaluation. Members included CDC headquarters and field staff, as well as non-CDC employees in State STD Programs and university settings. For each chapter, subgroups were formed and assigned the task of developing a chapter, using evidence based information, when available. Each subgroup was comprised of members of the workgroup plus subject matter experts in a particular field. All subgroups used causal pathways to help determine key questions for literature searches. Literature searches were conducted on key questions for each chapter. Many of the searches found little evidence-based information on particular topics. The chapter containing the most evidence-based guidance is on partner services. In future versions of this guidance, evidence based information will be expanded. Recommendations are included in each chapter. Because programs are unique, diverse, and locally driven, recommendations are guidelines for operation rather than standards or options. In developing these guidelines the workgroup followed the CDC publication "CDC Guidelines - Improving the Quality", published in September, 1996. The intent in writing the guidelines was to address appropriate issues such as the relevance of the health problem, the magnitude of the problem, the nature of the intervention, the guideline development methods, the strength of the evidence, the cost effectiveness, implementation issues, evaluation issues, and recommendations. STD prevention programs exist in highly diverse, complex, and dynamic social and health service settings. There are significant differences in availability of resources and range and extent of services among different project areas. These differences include the level of various STDs and health conditions in communities, the level of preventive health services available, and the amount of financial resources available to provide STD services. Therefore, these guidelines should be adapted to local area needs. We have given broad, general recommendations that can be used by all program areas. However, each must be used in conjunction with local area needs and expectations. All STD programs should establish priorities, examine options, calculate resources, evaluate the demographic distribution of the diseases to be prevented and controlled, and adopt appropriate strategies. The success of the program will depend directly upon how well program personnel carry out specific day to day responsibilities in implementing these strategies to interrupt disease transmission and minimize long term adverse health effects of STDs. In this document we use a variety of terms familiar to STD readers. For purposes of simplification, we will use the word patient when referring to either patients or clients. Because some STD programs are combined with HIV programs and others are separate, we will use the term STD prevention program when referring to either STD programs or combined STD/HIV programs. These guidelines, based on the CSPS program announcement, cover many topics new to program operations. Please note, however, that these guidelines replace all or parts of the following documents:
Page last modified: August 16, 2007 Page last reviewed: August 16, 2007 Historical Document Content Source: Division of STD Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention |
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Program Operations Guidelines for STD Prevention
