Primary prevention in community mental health centers: a survey of current activity

About half of the current activity in consultation and education services of community mental health centers can be classified as primary prevention. Using a framework that distinguishes between institutional-level interventions (caretaker training and program consultation) and individual-level interventions (dealing with developmental or situational crises) data are presented from 43 community mental health centers on (a) specific target populations that are tapped by primary-prevention activities and (b) content of the activities. Illustrative activities are described and explanations of current trends are posited. Current programming trends in primary prevention reflect the "state of the art" today and the findings in this paper have implications for the future promotion of primary prevention activity.