GAPS (AMA Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services)

Abstract

TheAMA Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services (GAPS): Recommendations and Rationale¹is a major breakthrough in the evolution of preventive health services in general and of adolescent preventive services in particular.GAPSis a comprehensive guide for adolescent health professionals that contains several pioneering elements. These elements include (1) providing a framework for the organization and content of "well-adolescent care," (2) offering guidance for parents and families as an essential part of adolescent health care, and (3) dealing with a wide range of adolescent health problems, with an appropriate focus on the behavioral, emotional, and developmental aspects. GAPSexpands the scope of issues and the depth of previous works. Some of these previous works have dealt with screening issues only²or have discussed adolescent health care as a minor part of preventive services for all age groups.³GAPSis a comprehensive work that provides a critical overview