Preventive services: an educational or political issue?

A major concern about health care in the United States, as we move into the 1980s, is the spiraling cost of such services. Thoughts and efforts surrounding the issues of how to control those costs have ranged from the establishment of different payment mechanisms and "professional services review" of care quality to means of avoiding the need for health care in the first place. If we are to alternate our approach to traditional health care, then we must bring the consumer back into the position of responsibility. This will call for a rethinking of our attitude toward intervention and prevention measures. This article looks at some of the issues and controversy which presently surround the implementation of the "prevention" concepts. The author suggests the answer lies with increased participation from both patient-consumer and the health professional.