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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2008.155218v1 99/12/2123    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Kreuter, M. W. Articles by Bernhardt, J. M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kreuter, M. W. Articles by Bernhardt, J. M. Related Collections Health Administration Health Policy Public Health Practice

Matthew W. Kreuter, PhD, MPH and Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH

Matthew W. Kreuter is with the Health Communication Research Laboratory at the Institute for Public Health and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, both at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Jay M. Bernhardt is with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.

Correspondence: Correspondence can be sent to Matthew W. Kreuter, PhD, MPH, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, 700 Rosedale Ave., Campus Box 1009, St. Louis, MO 63112-1408 (e-mail: mkreuter{at}gwbmail.wustl.edu). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

A fundamental obstacle to successful dissemination and implementation of evidence-based public health programs is the near-total absence of systems and infrastructure for marketing and distribution.

We describe the functions of a marketing and distribution system, and we explain how it would help move effective public health programs from research to practice. Then we critically evaluate the 4 dominant strategies now used to promote dissemination and implementation, and we explain how each would be enhanced by marketing and distribution systems.

Finally, we make 6 recommendations for building the needed system infrastructure and discuss the responsibility within the public health community for implementation of these recommendations. Without serious investment in such infrastructure, application of proven solutions in public health practice will continue to occur slowly and rarely.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. L. Daniel, J. M. Bernhardt, and D. Eroglu Social Marketing and Health Communication: From People to Places Am J Public Health, December 1, 2009; 99(12): 2120 - 2122. [Full Text] [PDF]