An apple a day isn’t quite enough to keep the doctor away. Read our guide to what real preventative care requires.

Key Takeaways:

• Prioritizing preventative steps delivers multiple benefits.

• Increased personal awareness, better budgeting, and easier condition management become possible.

• Exercise, nutrition, and vaccinations play key roles.

• Prioritizing mental and emotional health can help prevent negative physical developments.

• Making medication more affordable with ModRN Health helps simplify preventative care.

A lot can go wrong with the human body. Too few people realize the power of prevention to maintain their well-being today and in the years to come. It’s very encouraging that the government is increasing public awareness of the value of preventative care through their Healthy People 2030 project.

There’s also a great deal we can do to give our bodies a much better chance of fighting off infection and disease. This guide provides some positive practices to help people of all ages prevent illness.

Preventative health care should be a personal priority

There are numerous physical advantages to preventative care. Attending regularly scheduled medical checkups and screenings can help caregivers discover infection, disease, or rapidly increasing chronic conditions before they become advanced. This may include, cancer screening, mammograms to screen for breast cancer, colonoscopies, and cholesterol and blood pressure checks.

This proactive use of preventative services significantly increases the odds of two positive outcomes: complete recovery or setting a care regime at the earliest possible stage to make future health management easier than it otherwise would have been.

It also makes sound financial sense to take the preventative path, since a less-advanced health condition won’t be as expensive to treat. Many health insurance plans can contribute toward preventative care bills at little to no cost for the policyholder (dependent on the caregiver’s network status), making it even easier to stay ahead of health problems and reduce future out-of-pocket costs and copays.

Benefits of preventative health care

There’s a further, collective preventative care benefit to individual preventative medicine: it contributes to a better medical future for everyone. The data gathered by caregivers during preventative screenings and treatments helps increase the medical field’s knowledge and ability to act early and treat successfully across a wide range of conditions.

Wider use of preventative care health services would also decrease the billions of dollars currently burdening the U.S. health system. Projections indicate that 80 million Americans will have three or more chronic diseases by 2030, making it crucial to prevent illness now. Following are the most effective ways to start making constructive changes.

The top 6 preventative practices

The steps that follow can make a significant, positive difference in your current and future well-being and wellness. Always consult your physician before adopting these or any other lifestyle habits or interventions to ensure they align with your present medical situation.

1. Be as physically active as possible

The health benefits of exercise can’t be overstated. It tones and invigorates the body (inside and out), helps with weight management, and contributes to improved sleep patterns. Add the mood-boosting endorphins released during even a light workout and you’ve got one of the best recipes available for holistic health.

2. Maintain optimal micronutrient levels

Millions of people are seriously deficient in key vitamins and minerals essential to bodily function and preventative care. Many key micronutrients such as vitamins A, D, and E and minerals such as iron and zinc are dangerously lacking, while sodium – a major contributor to heart disease, hypertension, and stroke – is in excess.

Taking a multivitamin is a good way to get multiple benefits in a single dose; however, vitamins should always be approached with caution as some may interfere with the effects of prescription medications. Ask your caregiver about adding vitamins to your diet as well as which supplements would benefit you most.

3. Stay informed on vaccines

Today’s medical climate has thrust vaccines into the upper tier of public awareness. Consult your care provider on which are best for you and when. This can help prevent or reduce the potential long-term effects of many viruses. This includes flu-shots to provide immunization against the latest common annual strains, to vaccines to protect against developing conditions like COVID-19.

4. Make your mental health matter

For many people, psychological and emotional well-being come a distant second to physical health. For some, though, they barely register at all. Remember that physical and mental health are intimately linked – by easing depression and helping to prevent or alleviate damaging addictive cycles, reducing or removing internal stressors can mitigate risk factors bring great relief to our bodies.

Speak to your primary care provider, physician or counselor about any mental or emotional discomfort you may be feeling, especially if you’ve been living with it for a while. Other fruitful pursuits can include spending quality time alone or with trusted others, meditating, or cultivating hobbies and new learning experiences.

5. Pay attention to recommendations

Many Americans aren’t retaining the information and recommendations they receive from caregivers during office visits and physical exams. As many as 90% don’t recall or don’t understand what their practitioner said during the consultation, while 40% aren’t sure how to practice self-care follow-up. Don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as necessary during preventive care visits and follow other best practices toward retaining recommendations.

6. Optimize your medical spending

Being proactive with our health isn’t always free. Prescription drug prices are perennially on the rise, and excessive cost can quickly become a potentially deadly barrier to preventative care.

Learning how to save on prescription drugs can be an invaluable preventative step and make necessary medications more affordable. Consider changing your habits today by switching to a generic versus name-brand medication, asking your physician about any available discounts, and seeing if another type of drug could do the same job for less money.

A further valuable budgeting step is teaming up with ModRN Health. Opening a free account with us can contribute to your preventative care strategy in several effective ways.

How ModRN Health can make preventative care more affordable

Using ModRN Health opens a world of preventative knowledge and potential prescription savings. We can help you compare drug prices to help locate the best deal at a pharmacy near you.

Our service also provides a growing number of resources designed to keep you informed on important medical news and give you deeper details about your medical condition and practical advice on how to manage it. Open a free account to get started today on a more confident and affordable road to preventing and managing illness!