Preventive health services

Preventive Health Services are medical services that are primarily focused on the prevention of diseases and health conditions. These services include screenings, check-ups, patient counseling, and vaccinations. They are designed to prevent illnesses, diseases, and other health problems, or to detect illness at an early stage when treatment is likely to work best.

Overview

Preventive health services are an essential part of healthcare. They are designed to help individuals maintain their health and well-being, and to prevent the onset of diseases and health conditions. These services can be broadly categorized into primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

• Primary prevention aims to prevent diseases or injuries before they ever occur. This is done by preventing exposures to hazards that cause disease or injury, altering unhealthy or unsafe behaviors that can lead to disease or injury, and increasing resistance to disease or injury should exposure occur.

• Secondary prevention aims to reduce the impact of a disease or injury that has already occurred. This is done by detecting and treating disease or injury as soon as possible to halt or slow its progress, encouraging personal strategies to prevent re-injury or recurrence, and implementing programs to return people to their original health and function to prevent long-term problems.

• Tertiary prevention aims to soften the impact of an ongoing illness or injury that has lasting effects. This is done by helping people manage long-term, often-complex health problems and injuries (e.g. chronic diseases, permanent impairments) in order to improve as much as possible their ability to function, their quality of life and their life expectancy.

Importance

Preventive health services are important because they can help to identify potential health issues before they become serious. By getting the right health services, screenings, and treatments, individuals are more likely to live longer, healthier lives.

Examples

Examples of preventive health services include:

• Cancer screenings such as mammograms, Pap smears, and colonoscopies
• Blood pressure checks
• Cholesterol checks
• Diabetes screenings
• Immunizations
• Obesity screenings and counseling
• Tobacco use counseling
• Alcohol misuse screening and counseling
• Depression screening
• Diet counseling
• HIV screening
• Sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention counseling and screening

See Also

• Public Health
• Health Promotion
• Healthcare Quality
• Healthcare Delivery System
• Healthcare Provider