This was one of our first entries defining prevention in the public health context and we were asked to make a submission by the Kathleen Show as a part of their Prevention not Prescriptions new weekly program. So, as we dig back into the root causes of our work, here's prevention for you:

The first issue I'd like to discuss is about Prevention. Public Health in its core aspects involves assessing, planning and developing infrastructure, resources and materials to improve the health of a population.


As professionals we are not primarily clinicians, we are in many ways administrators, organizers and educators. Given this, in order to accomplish our goals we must utilize this role effectively by focusing primarily on prevention. As a public health professional I ask: what is the problem, the extent of the problem, it's nature and how can it be resolved, prevented or it's negative impacts reduced?

This is what I believe defines prevention. However, it's not that simple, prevention isn't just about investigating a problem and either eliminating it or reducing it's impact. In the context of health and infrastructure it is about environmental change. This may mean changes in systems, methods of delivery, increased access to essential resources and more efficient service delivery. Thus, it requires change on many levels.

I decided to discuss this issue, because as an alcohol prevention specialist I often run into many different interpretations of this type of prevention. As I mentioned earlier we are not primarily clinicians, however the disease of alcoholism like many other health indicators is clinical and can be treated. Yet, just as prevention is not education only, treatment is not the only way to solve the problem. For those in education, prevention is the primary vehicle for delivering health messages in their setting, treatment's contextualization is in providing resources to resolve, subside or reduce negative health impacts.

The point here is that prevention involves both education and treatment in terms of increasing access and efficiency of health resources. So, when we explain the concept of a comprehensive approach, this is what we mean. I'm the coordinator and collaborator, educators are my partners to explain the problem and provide instruction for prevention, clincians are my partners for delivery of accessible and effective care. The institutional structure is the basis for bringing these two entities together and the population itself are the vehicles of change. Given this, I prefer not to tell people what prevention is, instead I'd like to work with people to see what it is, their role, and how their work with others put together the pieces of the puzzle.