The primary level of prevention is specific and precedes medical ailments through evaluating the causes. It is practiced before contracting an infection and is a preventive strategy that indulges in prevention of a disease before its occurrence. Primary Prophylaxis measures are undertaken to ensure public health and avoid treatment or curing a medical condition. Several medical disorders could be prevented through immunizations and adoption of healthy lifestyles. Nurses are now able to apply their skills and resources in preventing ailments hence, promotion of health (Anderson & McFarlane, 2010). Health promotion programs are aimed at declining Incidence as well as prevalence of an ailment through persuading the population engage in protective measures. Such activities involve health education, healthy eating habits, developing personality, marriage counseling, environmental cleanliness, and risk factors reduction (Bonita et al., 2006).
Primary education is geared especially on health education and promotion, to prevent onset of a certain diseases. This is attained for instance through active as well as passive immunizations, health education, managing body weight, hand washing, avoiding drugs and substance abuse, responsible sexual behaviors and having healthy eating habits. It may involve conducting examinations as well as screening procedures in relation to the age, family history and health of a community, a family or an individual. For instance, a family history of cancer requires the members to have early and regular screening tests as compared to those who have none. Epidemiological studies have proven essential for health practitioners to implement preventive medicine in a community (Anderson & McFarlane, 2010)
Preventive Level for a Community with Alleviated Family Violence
In a community having elevated family violence, primary level has proven effective. For instance, being aware of family violence in the community has helped to initiate preventive measures. This is attained by educating individuals on violence and ways to curb the vice. Moreover, persons could be given alternative positive and productive activities. Marriage counseling as well as sex education could help to decline family violence through problem solving. It is however a field neglected by medical practitioners since it is often hard to enquire on family relations in a community. However, this can be attained through observation although its outcomes may be inaccurate and inadequate (Ervin, 2002). To particular researchers, it is often problematic to screen out due to preexisting barriers. Some researchers neglect this activity preferring other fields where few of them willing to assist families with domestic violence. Therefore, Primary prevention proves hard to tackle on such an issue since it is geared to curb any negative outcome that might crop up. As a result home visit programs to evaluate the family interaction and relationship, is often challenging.
However, through observations one could notice violent behaviors with the help of teachers. This is because a teacher has ample knowledge of children and can determine negative aspects like bruises, fear, absence, poor performance, segregation among others, which could prove to be essential indicators. Consequently, programs can be implemented in school through counseling such children through cooperation of teaching staff and the clinicians. For overall well being of a community, primary level prevention should be enforced through management of family violence although it is often hard to detect the magnitude of violence in a given family (Porche, 2004). However, counseling and educating the community on such aspects could prove worthwhile to have a permanent solution. It is essential to question on the causes and probable effects of such violence may it be environmental, social, economical or psychological, in order to have effective counseling and educative procedures while aiming at introducing positive aspect to assist the affected families (Ervin, 2002).
A Comprehensive Health Program
Primary, secondary and tertiary preventive levels are essential in a comprehensive health program since they assist a population to achieve better health. The program aims at maintaining, promoting and educating on health to wipeout a certain condition from the population. The program detects the problem, screens it and aim at restoring health in a community and the three levels prove essential for such assessment and intervention strategies (Jenkins, 2003). For primary level to be effective, cooperation of patient is essential, where they give consent to implement the program by the clinician. The nurse must draft a program, which promotes health and protects the community from a medical condition, thus decreasing their occurrence. Second, the conditions should be identified early to trigger interventions in order to curb medical conditions and to involve screening measures and care. Third, rehabilitating chronic disease is necessary to optimize function and be applicable in scenarios where there is already a disability.
Communities have a diverse population, whose needs are varied. Besides, the demographic, social, psychological as well as structural aspects differ. Thus, nurses should draft a health care program, which is comprehensive to handle the diverse people and medical conditions. Tackling a medical condition at this level is much cheaper and saves time through being ready for any outcome in a community especially at the primary level since the development and spread of ailments is managed (Clark, 2008). When this is achieved, the nurses should mostly be aimed at the primary level but having to consider the possibility of other levels in a comprehensive healthcare program. A change targeting this level will eventually affect the others thus primary intervention would prove essential even for the subsequent levels. Often, a paradigm shift is essential as the whole community actively become involved in their health welfare by being knowledgeable and having lifestyle changes. A multidisciplinary approach is therefore essential where nurses have to portray genuine commitment in the practice (Jenkins, 2003).
Cost Effectiveness of the Primary Level
A health concern at the Primary level is cost effective and is often targeted to the entire community. The level seeks at assessing the causative factors of a certain issue and helps to meet individual needs. Moreover, it is a preventive measure of a factor or disease, which might result to amplified symptoms, treatment and even physical and psychological disabilities if left unattended. This might call for even a more advanced medication (Clark, 2008). For instance, prophylactic measures such as immunizing individual against polio are much cheaper than having to deal with paralyzed patient, whose condition is not only burdensome but also expensive to treat. Similarly, having protected sex is by far cheaper than dealing with treatment of STIs, unwanted pregnancies and abortions.
Unlike the primary level, secondary level aims at disease treatment through early diagnosis and treatment efforts of already present condition prior to it’s resulting to great morbidity. It is not cost effective since individuals have already acquired the risk factors as it involves treatment of asymptomatic individuals or in ones whose illness is not clinically apparent. These procedures are often expensive such as screening, mammograms, genetic counseling among others. The procedure aims at a risk population. Likewise tertiary prevention is more expensive and is geared at reduction of complications and negative outcomes of a condition. The level handles rehabilitation phase in the pursuit of recovery to adapt to the risk. Hence, preventive level guarantees fetal health and sustainable health wellbeing, free of a medical condition. Primary level incorporates interrelated programs and is prevalent as a global policy such as curbing health issues through managing pollution of water, air and food supplies. Such preventive agencies include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), meant for incidence rates reduction and administering preventive measures. Personal responsibility affects the effectiveness of such programs through proper application of the recommendations (Jenkins, 2003).
References
Anderson, E. T. and McFarlane, J. M. (2010). Community as Partner: Theory And Practice In Nursing. New York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Bonita, R., Beaglehole, R. and TKjellström, T. (2006). Basic Epidemiology. 2nd Ed. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
Clark, M. (2008). Community Health Nursing: Advocacy for Population Health (5th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Ervin, N. (2002). Advanced Community Health Nursing Practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Jenkins, C. D. (2003).Building Better Health: A Handbook of Behavioral Change. Washington, DC: Pan American Health Organization.
Porche, D. J. (2004). Public & Community Health Nursing Practice: A Population-Based Approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.