Primary, secondary, and tertiary preventive measures refer to the various ways medical professionals halt the spread of disease among the population. The first measure encompasses specific actions taken to make the patient resistant to disease or make the environment less harmful to human health. This includes limiting the unhealthy behaviors of patients, exposure to hazardous circumstances, and raising public immunity. Secondary measures focus on the detection of diseases and screening. Tertiary measures prevent illnesses’ long-term effects and deal with a disease’s chronic symptoms. This essay aims to compare these prevention methods and examine patients’ educational needs.
To compare the effectiveness of the preventive measures, it is necessary to explain the role of healthcare providers in stopping the spread of disease. Meiner (2018) states that “nursing as a caring profession is in a unique position to facilitate human changes by assisting others in self-development” (p. 136). Healthcare workers can provoke the improvement of a patient’s well-being, which means it is critical to assess the ways nurses interact with patients. Primary prevention involves education and health promotion the most out of the three, which increases the likelihood of such measures being effective. In secondary measures, patients are encouraged to visit once in a while, which is not helpful for adults with busy schedules. Tertiary measures are effective for a population suffering from diseases: health promotion is limited.
The educational needs of patients are determined by several factors. Meiner (2018) provides a list: ethnicity, culture, economic patterns, political environment, and, most importantly, the likelihood of behavioral changes. To understand a patient’s needs, an assessment of their background is essential. A person’s culture, family history, and environment greatly affect their disposition to harmful habits, diet, exercise regime, etc. Their mental state must be evaluated as well to understand how productive different measures may be in preventing disease. In these circumstances, primary and tertiary measures are most helpful since they involve a high degree of patient education.
To conclude, all preventive measures are helpful against the spread of disease. However, the best are primary measures aimed at educating, limiting unhealthy habits, and ensuring an environment unsuitable for illnesses. These methods interact with communities of people frequently, which increases the likelihood of their usage. As a consequence of these interactions, nurses can assess each patient’s individual educational needs, making it more probable that the measures are successful in stopping the disease.
References
Meiner, S. E. (2018). Gerontologic nursing (6th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences.