While it's important to seek healthcare assistance while you're suffering from an ailment, many underestimate just how crucial it is to seek preventive healthcare. Taking preventive measures can be the difference between lasting, good health and unnecessarily developing health issues and chronic diseases.
At PT Family Medicine, our team of healthcare professionals takes practicing preventive medicine very seriously. We believe that these services are the key to helping patients stay healthy for years to come.
Now that it's a new year, there's no better time to take the first step of your preventive health journey. In this article, we'll show you the many benefits of seeking preventive care so that you know exactly how essential these services are, both to individual and general community health.
How Does Preventive Care Improve Health?
Preventive care refers to any healthcare service or intervention that aims to prevent or delay the onset of chronic disease and health problems. This includes routine check-ups, screenings, vaccinations, and counseling on healthy habits.
Preventing Disease Early On
One of the main ways preventive care improves health is by catching potential health issues early on. Many diseases and conditions can be treated more effectively if detected in their early stages. In fact, some illnesses can even be reversed or prevented entirely through timely intervention. By taking proactive measures towards maintaining good health, individuals can make changes to aid in avoiding largely preventable diseases as well as promoting health in general.
Address Unhealthy Habits
Another way that preventive care can improve health outcomes tremendously is through the use of preventive health screenings. By identifying potential risk factors like environmental hazards and poor behavioral influences, your primary care doctor can steer you in the direction of a healthy lifestyle!
Preventive Care Financial Benefits
When you begin making the lifestyle changes recommended by your primary care provider and ensure that you're getting regular preventive health screenings, there's an additional benefit you may not realize: Saving on health costs.Preventative medicine allows for the promotion of healthy habits and frequent check-ups. Because of this, you'll be able to tackle costly medical issues before they come to fruition. Tests and screenings that help to prevent disease are far less costly than treatment for the disease.
Common Types of Preventive Care
To be more specific, here's a short list of some of the many types of preventive care, many of which are offered right here at PT Family Medicine.
- Adult and childhood vaccines against common diseases
- Mental health counseling
- A broad range of tests and evaluations such as checking for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cancer screenings
- Counseling on things like healthy eating and quitting smoking
How General Preventive Medicine Helps Your Community
While preventive care works to promote health on an individual level, it should be noted that it has strong impacts on public health as well. By taking proactive measures to prevent disease, individuals can help contribute to reducing the spread of illness and decreasing healthcare costs for the entire community.
Preventive care services also have a positive impact on population health management. By practicing good preventive care habits, communities can help decrease their overall risk factors and improve public health outcomes. This includes reducing the likelihood of epidemics, outbreaks, and other health emergencies.
Start Your Preventive Healthcare Journey With PT Family Medicine
It's never too late to begin your journey to becoming the healthiest version of yourself. Our primary care physicians at PT Family Medicine are here to work tirelessly alongside you throughout your physical and mental health journey, and we're more than willing to answer any questions along the way.
If you are interested in learning more about preventive or primary care this New Year, you can contact our team of highly skilled physicians at PT Family Medicine for personalized treatment, or schedule an appointment directly from our website today.
