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WHAT IS PREVENTION?

Definition of Prevention

There are many definitions of prevention. Here is a definition that is favored by many people working in the prevention field because it affirms that we have the power to change things to improve people's lives. That's what prevention is all about.

"Prevention is an active process of creating conditions and fostering personal attributes that promote the well-being of people." (Lofquist, 1989)

(Source: Foundations of Prevention: Core Knowledge and Practice, Module 2-4, c. 1998, Circle Solutions, Inc., and Macro International, Inc., in press 2001)

According to the above definition, conditions refer to those things that surround an individual, and individual attributes refer to those characteristics of the individual. Prevention is about looking beneath problems for answers to what conditions and attributes lead to those problems occurring to begin with - and then working to influence the conditions and attributes in order to make sure those problems never occur for others.

Prevention Principles

There are three, key prevention principles:

  • Local people solve local problems best;
  • People support what they help create; and
  • Science matters.
Prevention is the active process of creating conditions and personal attributes that promote the wellbeing of people