Understanding preventative healthcare
Key trends in preventative healthcare
The role of technology in preventative care
Benefits of a proactive health approach
Challenges in implementing preventative healthcare
Case study: Successful preventative health programs
Conclusions
References
Further reading
Understanding preventative healthcare
The United States has the highest health expenditures of any developed country worldwide; however, only about 8% of Americans currently undergo routine preventive screenings. As a result, the US loses about $55 billion US dollars (USD) each year due to missed prevention opportunities, which amounts to about $0.30 for every dollar spent on healthcare services.
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Preventive medicine aims to reduce the risks of injury and disease through various primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention measures. For example, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has offered several recommendations for clinical preventive medicine, which include education, screenings, counseling, preventive medications, and treatments to reduce the risks of noncommunicable and lifestyle-related diseases, as well as injuries.
Specialized clinics targeting communicable diseases like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and tuberculosis, as well as noncommunicable diseases like obesity and addiction, may also be incorporated into preventive health measures.
Key trends in preventative healthcare
Current estimates indicate that nearly 80% of chronic medical conditions could be prevented by healthy lifestyle behaviors, with about 63% of deaths likely caused by chronic diseases attributed to unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Thus, lifestyle medicine has emerged as a crucial area within clinical preventive medicine.
Lifestyle medical interventions can be categorized into six basic pillars, which include whole food, plant-based nutrition, physical activity, stress reduction, avoidance of toxic substances, sleep health, and healthy relationships. Taken together, these pillars aim to address the root causes of various chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity, in an effort to significantly reduce their associated morbidity and mortality rates, as well as the financial burden associated with managing these chronic diseases.
A Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle
Although lifestyle medicine interventions share numerous similarities in the prevention of various diseases, specific approaches can be implemented to target certain diseases. For example, dietary counseling and physical activity are crucial in many areas of disease prevention; however, these interventions have been shown to significantly reduce blood pressure levels and improve kidney function in individuals with chronic kidney diseases.
The role of technology in preventative care
Artificial intelligence (AI) encompasses a wide range of tools that have been increasingly applied within healthcare. Within preventative medicine, AI can be used to model how adolescents engage with adaptive technologies to acquire data for the development of effective and unique interventions for various health concerns.
For example, within a primary care clinic, an adolescent patient can be provided a tablet to complete an online screening tool to anonymously report their history with various health behaviors, including risky behaviors such as smoking and consuming alcohol.
Based on the patient’s responses, the online screening tool can provide the patient with access to a personalized narrative game powered by an adaptive health behavior change system that addresses common scenarios such as peer pressure, social norms, and the consequences of alcohol use. By engaging with this AI-driven preventive health intervention, patients can receive specific support that enhances their ability to navigate real-world situations while simultaneously reducing their risk of participating in potentially life-threatening activities.
Benefits of a proactive health approach
In a study conducted by Trust for America’s Health, researchers found that investing only $10 per person every year in community-based programs centered around increasing physical activity levels, improving nutrition practices, and preventing smoking and other tobacco use could lead to over $16 billion USD in saving every year. Of these annual savings, Medicare could save over $5 billion USD, Medicaid could save almost $2 billion USD, and private payers could save over $9 billion USD, thus demonstrating the cost-effective benefits associated with community-based lifestyle interventions.
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Challenges in implementing preventative healthcare
Currently, only about 27% of US medical schools provide the minimum required number of nutrition education hours. The lack of adequate lifestyle education incorporated into medical training has led several US residency programs to begin incorporating lifestyle medicine into their curricula. In fact, a recent resolution has required that medical training incorporate adequate clinical nutrition education to support widespread preventive care education.
Despite these efforts, only about 3.7% of funding for the National Institutes of Health is specifically allocated towards preventative medicine. Thus, there remains an urgent need to increase investment in preventive medicine training programs.
Case study: Successful preventative health programs
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic exposed many of the limitations associated with curative medicine and emphasized the importance of adopting various preventive measures to reduce one’s vulnerability to infectious diseases. The widespread implementation of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic is one way in which access to preventive care was expanded in order to reach more individuals and ensure their access to treatment.
In fact, the incorporation of data acquired from personal health devices and electronic health records has been shown to reduce the incidence of diabetes-promoting habits, thereby supporting diabetes and obesity prevention.
In addition to increasing patient access to healthcare providers, telemedicine has also reduced the burden on healthcare facilities and practitioners. Additionally, the ease of telemedicine visits can also allow patients to interact more frequently with their doctors, which allows physicians to monitor patient conditions more closely. In fact, telemedicine has been shown to significantly reduce readmission rates of patients with heart failure, as well as support the early detection of cardiovascular disease (CVD), thereby reducing costs.
Why Preventive Health Care Is Important
Conclusions
Curative medicine remains a crucial aspect of healthcare; however, the prioritization of preventive medicine is imperative to promote health, prevent the spread of infectious diseases, as well as reduce the risk of developing preventable chronic health conditions. Although various technologies, ranging from AI, machine learning, and telemedicine, are currently being used to expand accessibility and adherence to preventive healthcare, there remains an urgent need to increase public funding for community-based interventions and other innovative preventive medicine strategies.
References
- Chevinsky, J., Chirumamilla, S., Caswell, S., et al. (2023). Clinical Preventive Medicine, Integrative Medicine, and Lifestyle Medicine: Current State and Future Opportunities in the Development of Emerging Clinical Areas. AJPM Focus. doi:10.1016/j.focus.2023.100166.
- Batarseh, F. A., Ghassib, I., Chong, D., & Su, P. (2020). Preventive healthcare policiies in the US: solutions for disease management using Big Dada Analytics. Journal of Big Data 7(1); 38. doi:10.1186/s40537-020-00315-8.
- Sadiq, I. Z. (2023). Lifestyle medicine as a modality for prevention and management of chronic diseases. Journal of Talibah Uniersity Medical Sciences 18(5); 1115-1117. doi:10.1016/j.jtumed.2023.04.001.
- Rowe, J. P., & Lester, J. C. (2020). Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Preventive Adolescent Healthcare. Journal of Adolescent Health 67(2); S52-S58. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.02.021.
- Battineni, G., Sagaro, G. G., Chintalapudi, N., & Amenta, F. (2021). The Benefits of Telemedicine in Personalized Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD): A Systematic Review. Journal of Personalized Medicine 11(7). doi:10.3390/jpm11070658.
Further Reading
Nutraceuticals: exploring potential benefits and challenges of an unregulated healthcare frontier