The use of epidemiologic methods as the bridge between prevention and social work practice

The concepts, scope and methods of epidemiology as well as the application of these tools to preventive social work practice for both policy setting and case management are described. Using data concerning lead poisoning, two areas are discussed. These are: 1) the stages of prevention and its implication for practice, and 2) definitions of the epidemiologic concepts of population-at-risk, prevalence, incidence, case rate, relative risk, attributable risk, and epidemiologic causal models. Finally, suggestions for using epidemiologic knowledge and methods in formulating policy for, and programs pertaining to, prevention in social work practice are set forth.