This paper analyzes the changing environment of community-based prevention and its evaluation research in Finland. The last ten years have changed the field considerably, and the field of preventive work is being reorganized on both the state level and the local level. The paper shows that growing expectations are directed to the local level, while the national-level policies are being dismantled. The development of community-based prevention research in Finland is also described, and the situation at the beginning of the 1990s is compared with that in 1997.
There is considerable demand for increased professionalism, knowledge, clarity of organization, evaluation and research if preventive work is to respond to any of the expectations directed toward it. Good scientific analyses and evaluation of preventive action offer the challenge for future research.
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