Prevention: what is it and why is it important?

Preventative action and activities target individuals, communities, and systems to generate outcomes to reduce the likelihood of the development of ill health and support good health.

By preventing ill-health, particularly for those most at risk, health inequalities can be reduced.

Principles for prevention:

• Resources should be allocated proportionately to address the levels of need for specific communities or populations to achieve equitable outcomes for all. This is a concept referred to as ‘proportionate universalism’.
• When thinking about services, we must consider and aim to improve access, experiences, and outcomes for groups most likely to be impacted by health inequalities.
• Whilst is it necessary to address lifestyle behaviours and health conditions to reduce health inequalities, these need to be addressed within the context of the ‘causes of the causes’ by taking into consideration the wider determinants of health.

Getting preventative activities right is key, to avoid further widening inequalities.

Defining prevention

There are different types of prevention:

“Primary”

Primary prevention aims to protect healthy people from developing a disease in the first place. This is often described as ‘working upstream’, to reduce or eliminate the incidence of harm occurring.

“Secondary”

Secondary prevention refers to early intervention after the risk factors have been found to be present and/or the signs of an illness have appeared. It involves intervening to prevent full harm or illness.

“Tertiary”

Tertiary prevention measures refer to measures that slow down physical deterioration, by supporting individuals who already have illness such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, or chronic musculoskeletal pain. This is often described as working ‘downstream’, to soften the impacts of injury/harm.

“Quaternary”

Quaternary prevention refers to measures which are well intended but have unintended consequences which may cause harm.