What is the Community Preventive Services Task Force?

The Community Preventive Services Task Force (Task Force) is an independent, nonfederal, unpaid body, appointed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose members represent a broad range of research, practice, and policy expertise in community preventive services, public health, health promotion, and disease prevention. The Task Force was established in 1996 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide evidence-based recommendations about community preventive services, programs, and policies that are effective in saving lives, increasing longevity, and improving Americans' quality of life.

The Task Force bases its recommendations on a rigorous, replicable systematic review process that: evaluates the strength and limitations of existing research evidence for community-based health promotion and disease prevention programs, services, and policies in high-priority topic areas; assesses whether the programs, services, and policies are effective in promoting health and preventing disease, injury, and disability; examines the applicability of these programs, services, and policies to varied populations and settings; and conducts appropriate economic and financial analyses of intervention cost and return on investment--to provide a full complement of information for decision makers.

These systematic reviews are conducted, with oversight from the Task Force, by scientists and other subject matter experts from CDC in collaboration with a wide range of government (federal, state, and local), academic, policy, and practice-based partners and stakeholders. The Task Force examines the evidence and produces findings and recommendations about effective and ineffective programs, services, and policies, as well as identifying research gaps that need to be filled.

The compilation of all Task Force reviews, findings, and recommendations is known as The Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide).