[What does prevention and rehabilitation research contribute to health policy?].

Rational health policy calls for a close collaboration between health-related political organizations and scientific communities, in particular public health sciences and health economics. Based on selected examples, this contribution highlights the benefits of primary and secondary prevention measures with re-spect to two widely distributed chronic diseases, coronary heart disease and depressive disorders. These examples refer to (1) lifestyle changes in secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, (2) theory-based measures of worksite health promotion, and (3)early detection and optimised treatment of depressive disorders. The relevance of interdisciplinary research on prevention and rehabilitation is emphasized by increasing pressures that arise from the current health care system.