Translating Research Findings into Public Health Action and Policy

Abstract

Abstract Cleft lip and cleft palate are important to public health in terms of birth prevalence, associated disabilities, costs of care, and psychosocial impact. Scientific studies relating to these issues are outlined in other chapters of this book. In this chapter, we focus on the practical application of scientific knowledge by public health providers to prevent and ameliorate birth defects at the community level. Some of the examples in this chapter do not necessarily apply directly to orofacial clefts. However, since these examples of birth defect programs include other malformations of similar public health importance such as neural tube defects, or are programs directed at exposures and outcomes that may also be related to orofacial clefts, they represent model approaches to public health aspects of birth defects that may also apply to cleft lip and cleft palate. One public health program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Diabetes Translation, 2001) has defined its role in translating research findings into widespread clinical and public health practice in the following ways: This conceptual framework will be used here to discuss areas of public health policy and action that may apply to emerging epidemiologic, genetic, and clinical research findings related to cleft lip and cleft palate.