Techniques for promoting a healthier society: Thoughts on prevention planning and needs assessment.

The authors present "Assessing Needs by Developmental Stages" as a method for assisting prevention professionals in formatting accessible data for use in prevention planning. Methods are discussed for merging social indicators and rates-under-treatment data with Developmental Life Stages to target prevention/intervention programs to counties or service areas with specific needs. The prospect of adapting these strategies for selecting and marketing effective prevention programs to other geographic areas is mentioned.