Preventive Care: Your First Line of Defense Against Illness

Preventative care helps safeguard your health by providing early detection or interception of serious conditions or diseases. Maintaining a relationship with a preventative care practitioner can help keep you healthy year-round. Learning their role and how they stack against diagnostic care can help you determine whether consulting this type of practitioner is necessary.

The role of a preventative care practitioner

Preventative care practitioners provide advice and recommendations to help maintain or improve their patients' overall health. Typically, they practice preventative medicine with a specialty in public health, health policy, clinical medicine, research, or a combination of the specialties. According to the American College of Preventative Medicine, or ACPM, preventative medicine aims to protect, promote, and maintain health and well-being and to prevent disease, disability, and death. Therefore, the services performed in this form of care can result in patients transitioning into diagnostic care, which refers to care or services to treat or manage a medical condition or disease such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Common preventative services

Preventative care is a blanket term that encompasses several services. Popular services include:

• Colonoscopy
• Immunizations or vaccines
• Low-dose computed tomography
• Mammograms
• Nutrition plans
• Routine and sports physicals
• Smoking cessation tools
• Various screenings

The practitioner strives to build a relationship with the patient to better determine necessary services. The patient must come prepared to be open and honest during each appointment, ready to share their lifestyle goals, desires for pregnancy, sleep patterns, etc.

Benefits of preventative care

The aforementioned services can help determine if a patient is in danger of developing or has a specific condition. For example, if cancer runs in a person's family or the patient is a smoker, consulting a preventative care practitioner is smart to ensure the patient receives the appropriate cancer screenings. Moreover, patients with sedentary lifestyles or poor diets may find it beneficial to speak with one of these practitioners to determine an effective diet and fitness plan. Doing so can help prevent issues associated with obesity, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and the like.

Preventative care can also refer to preventing or lessening the impact of illnesses contracted seasonally or environmentally. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, states that cold and flu season occurs in fall and winter, peaking between December and February. Therefore, patients can schedule an appointment for their annual flu vaccine, which is updated every year to combat the various strains of each virus. Likewise, patients can receive vaccines if they plan on leaving the country. Some countries require specific vaccines to prevent a disease from entering and spreading to their people.

Lastly, patients are usually pleased to learn that most insurance providers cover a great portion of preventative care services. While costs vary per provider, these services are typically less expensive than diagnostic care, including medications, procedures, equipment, and more frequent appointments.

Safeguard your overall health

Preventative care is available to all in and surrounding the Pembroke Pines area. We at South Florida Doctors Group are committed to helping our patients be as healthy as possible, starting with prevention. Contact our office to schedule an appointment.

Request an appointment here: https://Southfloridadoctorsgroup.com or call South Florida Doctors Group at (954) 905-2432 for an appointment in our Pembroke Pines office.

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