Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Prevention



Prevention

What is disease prevention?

"Disease prevention incorporates preventative care, medicine and therapy to prevent the occurrence of disease, reduce risk factors, and understand the progression of the disease in order to reduce the consequences of the disease" (Definition of Wellness, n.d.).

There area three levels of disease prevention which are primary, secondary and tertiary.  Primary is directed towards prevention of a disease, secondary prevention is directed towards the treatment of the disease and tertiary is directed towards therapies and maintaining the disease (Healy, & Zimmerman, 2010).



Obesity disease prevention


My Examples

Below are ideas that, I believe, fall under each area of prevention. If there are any that you may feel I have chosen to be in the wrong category please leave me your reasoning in the comment box.

Primary Prevention: "Activities taken to prevent disease in the future" (Healy, & Zimmerman, 2010). 

1. Yearly health checkups at the doctor for weight assessment.
2. Breastfeeding has been associated with reducing obesity risk in children
3. Exercise
4. Eat a healthy breakfast every morning

5. Limit sugary drinks
6. Limit high fatty processed foods
7. Avoid snacks that are high in fat,salt and sugar


A supporting website of my examples can be found at Medical Home Patrol a website for parents, families, and physicians who are advocating for child safety and special health care needs (Medical Home Patrol, 2012).

Secondary Prevention: "Early detection and treatment of disease" (Healy, & Zimmerman, 2010).


1. Increase exercise to control weight
2. Increase outdoor activities and lessen indoor activities (television)
3. Lifestyle coaching
4. Incorporate portion control


Tertiary Prevention: "Rehabilitation therapies to prevent complications or further illness" (Healy, & Zimmerman, 2010).


1. Weight management program
2. Weight surgery
3. Medical care for diseases caused by obesity


I found supporting information for my ideas on secondary and tertiary prevention on the website for the National Heart, lung and blood institute (National, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 2008).

Reference


Definition of Wellness. (n.d.). Definition of disease prevention. Retrieved from http://www.definitionofwellness.com/dictionary/disease-prevention.html

Healy, B., & Zimmerman, R. (2010). The New World of Health Promotion, New Program Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. In Healy, B., & Zimmerman, R (Eds.), Epidemiology as the catalyst in the  development of health promotion programs (pp. 23-40). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett publishers.


Medical Home Patrol. (2012). Childhood Obesity. Retrieved from http://www.medicalhomeportal.org/ clinical-practice/screening-and-prevention/childhood-obesity

National, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. (2008). Working group report on future research directions in childhood obesity prevention and treatment. Retrieved from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/ workshops/child-obesity/index.htm#summarytreatmentpanel

2 comments:

  1. Great approach to explaining the different levels in disease prevention, examples are always a great way to make information less daunting. I was watching the news the other day and there was a segment about inventions and two inventors showcased their products to a businessman that works with patents and one of the inventions was a spill-proof gadget; the gadget would prevent any beverage it holds from spilling. The businessman frankly said that prevention inventions rarely do well on the market but a way of cleaning the spill would be more lucrative. I thought that was a reflect of how our health care spending is as well, more treatment than prevention.

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  2. I like seeing the three levels of prevention and everything is not just lumped together. People need to view this as something that needs to be prevented over a long period of time. I would really like to see a huge change in children and their activity levels. Too many kids have video games and other inside distractions that limits or elimates outdoor activity. The creativity of children is usually stimulated by given the freedom to go outside and explore. This is something that many parents are doing as a disservice to their children. Gadgets, phones, and iPads need to be selved for a while for the reason of getting kids outdoors and into activities that stimulate some sort of exercise. Make it part of their life. I know I am.

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