Defined Terms and Documents      'Aboriginal Teenager Life Skills' RTV Social Inclusion Early Intervention Programme 

Preventive Health or Preventative Health or Preventative Intervention means a clinical, social, behavioural, educational, environmental, fiscal or legislative intervention designed to reduce the risk of accident, illness, Lifestyle Related Chronic Diseases, disability or premature death, intended to promote physical, social, emotional and psychological Wellbeing - utilising Primary Prevention which may inter alia -

(i)          improve QOL and Lifestyle Behaviour;

(ii)         Increase Productivity;

(iii)        contain insurance premiums;

(iv)        reduce accidents, in particular trauma accidents, from recreational activities;

(v)         reduce private and public Health Care Costs; and

(vi)        narrow the Generation Gap.

The UK also deploys the term Preventive Intervention.

The term Preventive Health may seem an oxymoron to people outside the health industry.  The Collins Dictionary describes Preventive and Preventative as "Preventing or slowing the course of an illness or disease; prophylactic."   However, its primary description is  "Something that prevents".  When this primary explanation is followed by the word "Health", the term Preventive Health can mislead which may explain why many people consider most Preventive Health initiatives fail in their intended purpose.  'Preventing Ill-health' seems a more apt term.

To often 'conflicts of interest' negatively impact Preventive Health due to programmes to arrest binge drinking or provide safer roads etc. conflicting with revenue from alcohol, nicotine, gambling and motor vehicles, with the later priorities often taking precedence.