Table of contents
Table of contents
Need advice before you get started?
Book an appointment
Need advice before you get started?
Book an appointment
Preventative health care plays an essential role in our healthcare system. Its objective: to act as early as possible to preserve health, reduce the risk of developing certain diseases and, when they do occur, limit their consequences.
It concerns each and every one of us, at all stages of life. Screening, vaccination, physical activity, diet, sleep or monitoring certain risk factors: prevention can take very different forms depending on everyone's age, state of health and situation.
But what does it really mean to "practice prevention"? What are the different types of prevention, its main challenges and the actions that allow us to look after our health?
Let's take a look.
What is health prevention?
Prevention means taking action to preserve your health before a problem arises, but also detecting it early enough or preventing it from getting worse.
Prevention is not limited to lifestyle habits. It encompasses a wide range of actions: vaccination, screening, monitoring of certain risk factors, physical activity, and support with certain substance uses.
To better understand its role, three levels are traditionally distinguished:
Primary prevention takes place before a disease appears. Its aim is to reduce the risk of it occurring.
Secondary prevention aims to detect a disease at an early stage, notably through screening.
Tertiary prevention takes place when a disease is already present, in order to limit its complications, sequelae, or recurrences.
In other words, prevention is not situated at a single point in the health journey. It can take place before, during, and after the onset of an illness.
We detail these three levels and their application in our article Why have a health prevention check-up?.
What is health prevention?
Prevention means taking action to preserve your health before a problem arises, but also detecting it early enough or preventing it from getting worse.
Prevention is not limited to lifestyle habits. It encompasses a wide range of actions: vaccination, screening, monitoring of certain risk factors, physical activity, and support with certain substance uses.
To better understand its role, three levels are traditionally distinguished:
Primary prevention takes place before a disease appears. Its aim is to reduce the risk of it occurring.
Secondary prevention aims to detect a disease at an early stage, notably through screening.
Tertiary prevention takes place when a disease is already present, in order to limit its complications, sequelae, or recurrences.
In other words, prevention is not situated at a single point in the health journey. It can take place before, during, and after the onset of an illness.
We detail these three levels and their application in our article Why have a health prevention check-up?.
What are the main challenges of health prevention?
The first challenge is simple: act as early as possible when it can make a difference.
This is particularly important when dealing with chronic diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, or diabetes, are responsible for approximately 74% of deaths worldwide. (1)
Their impact is not limited to the risk of death. For those affected, these diseases can lead to complications, loss of autonomy, long-term treatments, repeated hospitalisations, or a significant reduction in quality of life. At a collective scale, they also represent a major burden for the healthcare system, as they require regular monitoring and long-term mobilisation of medical resources.
Obviously, not all of these diseases can be avoided. However, several factors that increase their risk can indeed be modified.
The WHO notably identifies smoking, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, and an unhealthy diet as the primary behavioural risk factors for non-communicable diseases. (1)
This is where prevention plays a concrete role. For example, for someone with high blood pressure, identifying and managing it can reduce the risk of serious complications like a stroke or a heart attack. Similarly, for someone eligible for colorectal cancer screening, participating in the recommended screening can allow precancerous lesions to be detected and removed before they develop into cancer.
Prevention thus addresses several challenges:
reducing exposure to certain risk factors when it is possible to act on them;
promoting protective behaviours for health;
detecting certain diseases earlier, sometimes before symptoms appear;
limiting complications in individuals who are already affected by a disease.
This logic is particularly important when a risk factor can go unnoticed. High blood pressure, for example, is most often silent. The French Health Insurance (l’Assurance Maladie) indicates that in France, 17 million adults had hypertension in 2021, including more than 6 million who were unaware of it. (2)
Preventing is not about trying to eliminate all risks. It is about identifying those on which it is possible to act and intervening early enough.
Prevention then takes several forms, sometimes very simple, sometimes more medical. The key is to choose the right actions at the right time, depending on each individual’s situation.
What are the main challenges of health prevention?
The first challenge is simple: act as early as possible when it can make a difference.
This is particularly important when dealing with chronic diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, or diabetes, are responsible for approximately 74% of deaths worldwide. (1)
Their impact is not limited to the risk of death. For those affected, these diseases can lead to complications, loss of autonomy, long-term treatments, repeated hospitalisations, or a significant reduction in quality of life. At a collective scale, they also represent a major burden for the healthcare system, as they require regular monitoring and long-term mobilisation of medical resources.
Obviously, not all of these diseases can be avoided. However, several factors that increase their risk can indeed be modified.
The WHO notably identifies smoking, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, and an unhealthy diet as the primary behavioural risk factors for non-communicable diseases. (1)
This is where prevention plays a concrete role. For example, for someone with high blood pressure, identifying and managing it can reduce the risk of serious complications like a stroke or a heart attack. Similarly, for someone eligible for colorectal cancer screening, participating in the recommended screening can allow precancerous lesions to be detected and removed before they develop into cancer.
Prevention thus addresses several challenges:
reducing exposure to certain risk factors when it is possible to act on them;
promoting protective behaviours for health;
detecting certain diseases earlier, sometimes before symptoms appear;
limiting complications in individuals who are already affected by a disease.
This logic is particularly important when a risk factor can go unnoticed. High blood pressure, for example, is most often silent. The French Health Insurance (l’Assurance Maladie) indicates that in France, 17 million adults had hypertension in 2021, including more than 6 million who were unaware of it. (2)
Preventing is not about trying to eliminate all risks. It is about identifying those on which it is possible to act and intervening early enough.
Prevention then takes several forms, sometimes very simple, sometimes more medical. The key is to choose the right actions at the right time, depending on each individual’s situation.
What are the main areas of preventive health?
There is no single way to approach prevention.
Some actions involve our daily habits, such as getting regular physical activity or looking after the quality of our sleep. Others require screening (which aims to detect the presence of a disease at an early stage in people who are otherwise healthy and do not yet show apparent symptoms) (3), vaccination, or support from a healthcare professional. And the relevant actions will not necessarily be the same depending on each person's age, medical history, or health status.
Addressing risk factors related to tobacco and alcohol
Limiting exposure to certain risk factors is among the most well-known preventive actions.
For both tobacco and alcohol, prevention can occur at different stages: preventing or delaying the onset of consumption, informing about the risks, identifying hazardous consumption, or supporting a reduction or cessation process.
Regarding smoking prevention, several tools can notably help assess consumption or dependency. The same applies to the prevention of risks related to alcohol, with questionnaires tailored to identifying hazardous consumption.
Preventing certain chronic diseases
Prevention can also target certain diseases more directly.
This is particularly true for cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, two highly significant examples in public health. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally: according to the WHO, they were responsible for 19.8 million deaths in 2022, representing approximately 32% of all global deaths. In France, pharmacologically treated diabetes affected more than 3.8 million people in 2023, or 5.6% of the population, according to Santé publique France. (4)
These diseases also share an essential common ground: several risk factors can be identified, monitored, or modified, such as blood pressure, blood glucose, physical activity, diet, or smoking. The leverage points differ depending on the disease and the person's profile, but the objective remains the same: to identify risks earlier and adapt preventive actions. Certain tools can also facilitate risk assessment, particularly within the framework of cardiovascular prevention or diabetes prevention.
Taking care of your health on a daily basis
Prevention also plays out in much more routine daily habits.
Physical activity notably helps reduce the risk of several chronic diseases. Indeed, the WHO estimates that insufficient physical activity increases the risk of death by 20% to 30% compared to sufficient activity. (5)
Sleep is also one of the important determinants of health. Its duration and quality are associated with both physical and mental health and can change over the course of a lifetime.
Questionnaires can help better evaluate these habits and identify certain situations that warrant further exploration, both for physical activity and for sleep.
Getting vaccinated and participating in recommended screenings
Finally, taking care of one's health does not solely rely on changes in lifestyle.
Vaccination helps prevent certain infectious diseases and their complications. Screening, on the other hand, aims to detect certain diseases or abnormalities at an early stage, sometimes even before symptoms appear.
These two tools therefore hold a full and integral place in a comprehensive preventive approach.
What are the main areas of preventive health?
There is no single way to approach prevention.
Some actions involve our daily habits, such as getting regular physical activity or looking after the quality of our sleep. Others require screening (which aims to detect the presence of a disease at an early stage in people who are otherwise healthy and do not yet show apparent symptoms) (3), vaccination, or support from a healthcare professional. And the relevant actions will not necessarily be the same depending on each person's age, medical history, or health status.
Addressing risk factors related to tobacco and alcohol
Limiting exposure to certain risk factors is among the most well-known preventive actions.
For both tobacco and alcohol, prevention can occur at different stages: preventing or delaying the onset of consumption, informing about the risks, identifying hazardous consumption, or supporting a reduction or cessation process.
Regarding smoking prevention, several tools can notably help assess consumption or dependency. The same applies to the prevention of risks related to alcohol, with questionnaires tailored to identifying hazardous consumption.
Preventing certain chronic diseases
Prevention can also target certain diseases more directly.
This is particularly true for cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, two highly significant examples in public health. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally: according to the WHO, they were responsible for 19.8 million deaths in 2022, representing approximately 32% of all global deaths. In France, pharmacologically treated diabetes affected more than 3.8 million people in 2023, or 5.6% of the population, according to Santé publique France. (4)
These diseases also share an essential common ground: several risk factors can be identified, monitored, or modified, such as blood pressure, blood glucose, physical activity, diet, or smoking. The leverage points differ depending on the disease and the person's profile, but the objective remains the same: to identify risks earlier and adapt preventive actions. Certain tools can also facilitate risk assessment, particularly within the framework of cardiovascular prevention or diabetes prevention.
Taking care of your health on a daily basis
Prevention also plays out in much more routine daily habits.
Physical activity notably helps reduce the risk of several chronic diseases. Indeed, the WHO estimates that insufficient physical activity increases the risk of death by 20% to 30% compared to sufficient activity. (5)
Sleep is also one of the important determinants of health. Its duration and quality are associated with both physical and mental health and can change over the course of a lifetime.
Questionnaires can help better evaluate these habits and identify certain situations that warrant further exploration, both for physical activity and for sleep.
Getting vaccinated and participating in recommended screenings
Finally, taking care of one's health does not solely rely on changes in lifestyle.
Vaccination helps prevent certain infectious diseases and their complications. Screening, on the other hand, aims to detect certain diseases or abnormalities at an early stage, sometimes even before symptoms appear.
These two tools therefore hold a full and integral place in a comprehensive preventive approach.
Prevention tailored to each individual
All of these preventive actions do not apply in the same way to everyone.
The actions to be prioritised depend on many factors: age, health status, personal and family history, lifestyle habits, or even certain risk factors.
Screening that is relevant for one person will not necessarily be relevant for another. In the same way, the topics to be addressed evolve throughout life.
It is notably this logic that led to the implementation of My prevention check-up at four key periods: 18-25 years, 45-50 years, 60-65 years, and 70-75 years. (6) The objective is to take stock of the prevention priorities specific to each person and to define a personalised prevention plan with a professional.
This personalisation above all makes it possible to target actions that are genuinely useful, rather than accumulating general recommendations.
What is the role of healthcare professionals in prevention?
Prevention does not rely solely on individual choices. Healthcare professionals also have an important role in informing, identifying risks, and suggesting appropriate actions.
Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, or midwives can notably intervene to:
take stock of certain risk factors;
verify recommended vaccinations and screenings;
identify habits that could have an impact on health;
advise, guide, or support the patient when necessary.
Yet, it is still necessary to be able to identify these topics at the right time.
A consultation for a specific reason can also reveal a need for prevention that had not been addressed until then. Questionnaires and identification tools can then help to gather certain information beforehand and bring to light the relevant topics to be discussed during the consultation.
It is with this logic in mind that Aldebaran operates: allowing preparation for the consultation by gathering useful information beforehand, in order to help the healthcare professional more easily identify certain prevention needs.
Prevention then becomes less occasional: it can be better integrated into the care pathway and into discussions between the patient and the professionals supporting them.
Prevention tailored to each individual
All of these preventive actions do not apply in the same way to everyone.
The actions to be prioritised depend on many factors: age, health status, personal and family history, lifestyle habits, or even certain risk factors.
Screening that is relevant for one person will not necessarily be relevant for another. In the same way, the topics to be addressed evolve throughout life.
It is notably this logic that led to the implementation of My prevention check-up at four key periods: 18-25 years, 45-50 years, 60-65 years, and 70-75 years. (6) The objective is to take stock of the prevention priorities specific to each person and to define a personalised prevention plan with a professional.
This personalisation above all makes it possible to target actions that are genuinely useful, rather than accumulating general recommendations.
What is the role of healthcare professionals in prevention?
Prevention does not rely solely on individual choices. Healthcare professionals also have an important role in informing, identifying risks, and suggesting appropriate actions.
Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, or midwives can notably intervene to:
take stock of certain risk factors;
verify recommended vaccinations and screenings;
identify habits that could have an impact on health;
advise, guide, or support the patient when necessary.
Yet, it is still necessary to be able to identify these topics at the right time.
A consultation for a specific reason can also reveal a need for prevention that had not been addressed until then. Questionnaires and identification tools can then help to gather certain information beforehand and bring to light the relevant topics to be discussed during the consultation.
It is with this logic in mind that Aldebaran operates: allowing preparation for the consultation by gathering useful information beforehand, in order to help the healthcare professional more easily identify certain prevention needs.
Prevention then becomes less occasional: it can be better integrated into the care pathway and into discussions between the patient and the professionals supporting them.
conclusion:
Preventive healthcare is not just a list of recommendations. It is built over time, based on age, medical history, lifestyle habits, and what truly matters to each patient.
Sometimes, it involves a vaccination, a screening, or monitoring a health indicator. Sometimes, it starts more simply: with a question that we finally take the time to ask, a risk that we identify earlier, or a conversation that allows us to act before the situation worsens.
This is the whole point of prevention: not waiting for health to deteriorate before taking care of it. By integrating it more closely into the care pathway, it allows us to support each person earlier, more appropriately, and to make every consultation an opportunity to better protect their health.
(1) World Health Organization (WHO). Noncommunicable diseases. 2026.
(2) French National Health Insurance (ameli.fr). Why have a health check-up? 2025
(3) French National Authority for Health (HAS). Screening: objective and conditions. 2016.
(4) Santé publique France. Diabetes - Data. 2025
(5) World Health Organization (WHO). Physical activity. 2024.
(6) French National Health Insurance (ameli.fr). My prevention check-up. 2025.
FAQ
What is the definition of health prevention?
What are some examples of preventive actions?
What is the difference between prevention and screening?
Who can provide support in a prevention approach?
At what age should you start preventative care?
Why must prevention be personalised?
How can prevention be integrated into the care pathway?
FAQ
What is the definition of health prevention?
What are some examples of preventive actions?
What is the difference between prevention and screening?
Who can provide support in a prevention approach?
At what age should you start preventative care?
Why must prevention be personalised?
How can prevention be integrated into the care pathway?
FAQ
What is the definition of health prevention?
What are some examples of preventive actions?
What is the difference between prevention and screening?
Who can provide support in a prevention approach?
At what age should you start preventative care?
Why must prevention be personalised?
How can prevention be integrated into the care pathway?
