This talk documents the extent of health disparities in the United States. It then argues that progress in reducing these disparities can best be made through research on comprehensive community interventions. Dr. Anthony Biglan presents examples of successes and failures in community research and argues that randomized trials evaluating such interventions are premature. Rather, there is a need for studies that introduce interventions in a series of communities, where each replication of the intervention is refined on the basis of work in preceding communities. Dr. Biglan provides several examples of the kind of research he is advocating.
