Leavell and Clark’s Three Levels of Prevention
Primary Prevention
- Seeks to prevent a disease or condition at a prepathologic state; to stop something from ever happening.
Health Promotion
- health education
- marriage counseling
- genetic screening
- good standard of nutrition adjusted to developmental phase of life
Specific Protection
- use of specific immunization
- attention to personal hygiene
- use of environmental sanitation
- protection against occupational hazards
- protection from accidents
- use of specific nutrients
- protections from carcinogens
- avoidance to allergens
Secondary Prevention
- Also known as “Health Maintenance”. Seeks to identify specific illnesses or conditions at an early stage with prompt intervention to prevent or limit disability; to prevent catastrophic effects that could occur if proper attention and treatment are not provided
Early Diagnosis and Prompt Treatment
- case finding measures
- individual and mass screening survey
- prevent spread of communicable disease
- prevent complication and sequelae
- shorten period of disability
Disability Limitations
- Adequate treatment to arrest disease process and prevent further complication and sequelae.
- Provision of facilities to limit disability and prevent death.
Tertiary Prevention
- Occurs after a disease or disability has occurred and the recovery process has begun; Intent is to halt the disease or injury process and assist the person in obtaining an optimal health status. To establish a high-level wellness. “To maximize use of remaining capacities’
Restoration and Rehabilitation
- Work therapy in hospital
- Use of shelter colony