2.2: Prevention is the Best Medicine
Using the medical model (see Chapter 1), the current U.S. healthcare system is set up to focus on diagnosing and treating diseases, and correcting injuries through surgery and rehabilitation. Because it focuses on treating illnesses and injuries after they occur, perhaps a better term to use would actually be “sick-care”. In contrast, public health uses the socio-ecological model, and is focused on prevention and improvement of population health. The public health concept of health is also more holistic: health is multidimensional and on a continuum. Therefore, prevention is also on a continuum. Public health works within governments, public education, healthcare systems and philanthropic organizations to promote well-being along the health continuum. This work can be broken down into three different types of prevention.