Abstract

ALVES, Railda Fernandes; EULALIO, Maria do Carmo  and  BROBEIL, Sylvia Alejandra Jiménez. Health promotion and disease prevention. Arq. bras. psicol. [online]. 2009, vol.61, n.2, pp. 1-12. ISSN 1809-5267.

Modern-day societies present with new biological, behavioral and epidemiological profiles, implying the need to redesign care practices and activities and prioritize health promotion and disease prevention. Psychological care at the primary care level represents an attempt to respond to this need. However, the predominant psychological model is clinical psychology, focusing on cure rather than prevention. Health psychology proposes epistemological and practical support for psychological interventions beyond the clinical setting. Based on this approach, this article presents and explains some ideas in health promotion and disease prevention, showing the compatibility between health actions and the work of the psychologist in public health at the different care levels, proposing guidelines for the activities of the psychologist in primary, secondary and tertiary care.

Keywords : Health promotion; Disease prevention; Health psychology; Psychologists in public health.

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