Prevention programmes in primary health care - 8 aspects of their effective implementation

INTRODUCTION: Primary health care (PHC) is an optimal setting for the purpose of primary and secondary prevention. Health education, vaccinations, screening may be successfully introduced to the PHC settings. Consequently, it would ensure better access to services and their accessibility for all social groups.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper was to determine factors which have an impact on the implementation of prevention programmes in the PHC settings as well as actions which improve the effectiveness of such programmes in Europe and worldwide with a special attention paid to the prevention programmes concerning chronic infectious diseases.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A review of literature was conducted in PubMed using the following key words: primary care/general practice, prevention, screening, implementation. A total of 540 articles published in 1976-2016 were subject to analysis.

RESULTS: Having developed prevention programmes in the PHC settings, it should not be forgotten that it would be an additional task for medical personnel. It would be of importance to allocate adequate funds which would allow for an optimal execution of the programme – adequate time for visit, adequate number of visits, time for education of patients, follow-up visits, monitoring of the execution of the programme and care over diagnosed patients. Prevention programme must be accompanied by education (especially education of medical personnel). Effective execution of the prevention programmes is favoured by the following factors: simple inclusion criteria, less invasive diagnostic tests, support programmes and the presence of workers which are appointed for such a purpose.

FINDINGS: Execution of preventive programmes in the PHC settings is feasible. Furthermore, there is an evidence which suggests that they may be effectively executed there.