title: A public health decision support system model using reasoning methods.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Public health programs must be based on the real health needs of the population. However, the design of efficient and effective public health programs is subject to availability of information that can allow users to identify, at the right time, the health issues that require special attention.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this paper is to propose a case-based reasoning model for the support of decision-making in public health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The model integrates a decision-making process and case-based reasoning, reusing past experiences for promptly identifying new population health priorities. A prototype implementation of the model was performed, deploying the case-based reasoning framework jColibri.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proposed model contributes to solve problems found today when designing public health programs in Colombia. Current programs are developed under uncertain environments, as the underlying analyses are carried out on the basis of outdated and unreliable data.
authors.affiliation: Computational Intelligence Research Group, University of Cauca, Colombia.
authors.forename: Maritza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mera
authors.affiliation: Computational Intelligence Research Group, University of Cauca, Colombia.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: eHealth Competence Center Bavaria, Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blobel
mesh_terms: D003105:Colombia; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011340:Problem Solving; D040442:Public Health Informatics / Q000458:organization & administration*