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Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion pp 48–68Cite as

Theories of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion

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The Spectrum of Intervention and the Place of Prevention

Although there are a wide variety of interventions that may reduce the actual occurrence of a disease or disorder and thus in the most general sense are “preventive,” not all of these efforts are appropriately labeled as prevention. Primary prevention should be accorded its own unique status, and secondary prevention given the more descriptive and appropriate label of early intervention. Similarly, treatment also should be accorded the separate and unique status it requires, rather than simply being lumped as merely another form of prevention.

The unique and defining features of prevention programs are (1) in their timing, (2) the levels of analysis that are targeted, and (3) the conditions that are the direct or indirect targets of change (Silverman & Felner, 1995). Given the “before-the-fact” nature of primary prevention, it could be argued that any intervention to reduce a specific behavior targeted at a group of individuals...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, The University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA

    Morton M. Silverman

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  1. Morton M. Silverman
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Correspondence to Morton M. Silverman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut, New London, CT, USA

    Thomas P. Gullotta

  2. University of Connecticut, West Hartford, USA

    Martin Bloom

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Silverman, M.M. (2014). Theories of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion. In: Gullotta, T.P., Bloom, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5999-6_335

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5999-6_335

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