Preventive Health Care Can Help You Live a Long and Healthy Life
When you have a cold or the flu, there’s no question that you’re sick and need treatment. Your body is telling you so. But there are other conditions that don’t make their presence so obvious. And the best way to combat those is with preventive health care.
What Is Preventive Health Care?
Preventive health care includes services such as checkups with your health care provider, screenings for diseases and other health issues, and patient counseling that can support you in making healthy lifestyle choices.
Some of the lifestyle changes you may need to make to improve your health include:
- Eating a healthier diet
- Increasing your physical activity
- Losing weight
- Receiving vaccinations
- Quitting smoking
- Reducing alcohol use
- Treating depression
The goal of preventive health care is to keep you healthy and stop diseases from developing. If you already have a health problem, preventive care can help keep it from getting worse so that you can continue living a healthy, productive life.
Getting the Care You Need
Some of the most common causes of death among Americans—heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes—could be prevented with preventive health services. What’s more, avoiding chronic illnesses can also keep your health care costs way down over the long term.
Speaking of costs, don’t let concerns about the cost of health care keep you from getting the preventive services you need. Many insurance plans cover certain preventive health care services for free, with no copayments or deductibles.
The post was brought to you by the Western CT Health Network.
