The case for dissemination research in health promotion and disease prevention

The case for dissemination research stems from the major imbalance in research funds available for preventive medicine, relative to needs. For examples, in the United States in 1992 prevention research was only 0.32% of the health care budget and dissemination research was a small proportion of prevention research. The Canadian Heart Health Initiative is an excellent example of successful dissemination research, based on needs assessment and evaluation of widespread demonstration projects. Other examples include the California Tobacco Tax Initiative, community projects and practitioner training. Continued professional and public education are needed to counter the prevalent philosophy favouring curative medicine; such policy documents as the Victoria Declaration for Heart Health and the Catalonia Declaration Investing in Heart Health are steps in this direction. The dissemination research agenda is broad, including replication of success in different geographic and cultural setting. The final goal is to hasten technology transfer of useful health promotion methods throughout the world.