Introduction
This topic covers preventive medicine and its objectives, the three levels of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary), and health promotion with its model, principles and strategies.
Preventive medicine
- Encompasses both the care of individual patients and public health practice, focusing on the health of individuals, communities and defined populations.
- Focuses on the prevention of disease rather than treatment: it protects, promotes and maintains health and well-being, and prevents disease, disability and death.
Objectives
- Promoting general health.
- Preventing specific diseases.
- Applying the concepts and techniques of epidemiology toward these goals.
Preventive medicine versus public health
- Preventive medicine seeks to enhance the lives of individuals by helping them improve their own health.
- Public health attempts to promote health in populations through organised community efforts.
Preventive medicine as a discipline has traditionally been described as primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.
Primary prevention
Keeps the disease process from becoming established by eliminating causes of disease or increasing resistance to it. It is an intervention at the stage of susceptibility: reducing exposure and preventing disease occurrence.
- Target audience: the total population, selected groups, individuals at high risk.
- Specific: immunisation and vaccines (influenza, tetanus), B12 / folic acid, iodised salt or tablets, fortification of foods.
- Non-specific: legislation and enforcement to ban or control hazardous products; requiring safe and healthy practices (seatbelt, helmet); health education (healthy and safe habits).
- Other examples: health habits (smoking, alcohol abuse, nutrition, obesity, sleep), coronary heart disease risk factors, injury prevention, osteoporosis prevention.
- Primary prevention is aimed at the cause of the disease: the underlying economic, social and environmental conditions and the specific causal factors.
- Prevention paradox: in a seatbelt campaign, using belts saves lives, but the majority of people never get into a serious crash, so they have little to gain individually.