What do we mean by preventative approaches?
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 8th October
Last week SCDC joined a partnership of national and local third and community sector organisations in publishing a joint statement on preventative approaches.
Preventative approaches mean identifying and tackling root causes before negative outcomes occur and are key to tackling Scotland’s persistent health inequalities crisis.
That means dealing with the underlying causes that result in some communities experiencing an unfair shortening of their lives and less time in good health.
We can think of prevention working at three levels: primary prevention means action on the building blocks of health, secondary is a focus on early detection of problems, and tertiary prevention means minimising negative consequences through careful management.
As our members and networks regularly tell us, a lack of clarity on what prevention means, and confusion on what constitutes prevention activity in a community setting, too often results in unnecessary obstacles to achieving positive change.
Working with our partners, this joint statement and case studies are one step towards supporting this increased understanding of how and why prevention works, to help us achieve the clarity we urgently need.
What you need to know this week.
The SCDC Weekly gives you everything you need to know around community development and beyond.
It’s free, concise and delivered directly to your inbox every Wednesday.