The principal mission of primary prevention is to engage in activities that reduce the likelihood of physical and behavioral health problems experienced by individuals, families, groups, and communities. Key to enlightened primary prevention efforts is the simultaneous focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of the broader society. Ideally, primary prevention efforts focus on the private troubles of individual people and the public issues that affect them (Albee & Gullotta, 1997; Bloom, 1996; Cohen, Chavez, & Chehimi, 2010; Dawson & Verweij, 2007). In this respect, primary prevention can be an important instrument of social justice (Hage & Kenny, 2008; Kenny & Hage, 2009). Prevention efforts may include work with individuals, families, and groups; community organizing and advocacy; social policy development and implementation; agency administration; public health education; and research and evaluation (Marshall et al., 2011; Satcher, 2006).
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Reamer, F.G. (2014). Ethics in 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_90
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