Preventive Care

Goal: Help people get recommended preventive health care services.

Getting preventive care reduces the risk for diseases, disabilities, and death — yet millions of people in the United States don’t get recommended preventive health care services.1 Healthy People 2030 focuses on increasing preventive care for people of all ages.

Children need regular well-child and dental2,3 visits to track their development and find health problems early, when they’re usually easier to treat. Services like screenings, dental check-ups, and vaccinations are key to keeping people of all ages healthy. But for a variety of reasons, many people don’t get the preventive care they need. Barriers include cost, not having a primary care provider, living too far from providers, and lack of awareness about recommended preventive services.4,5

Teaching people about the importance of preventive care is key to making sure more people get recommended services. Law and policy changes can also help more people access these critical services.

Objective Status

  • 1 Target met or exceeded
  • 3 Improving
  • 9 Little or no detectable change
  • 5 Getting worse
  • 8 Baseline only
  • 6 Developmental
  • 2 Research

Learn more about objective types

References

1.

Borksy, A., et al. (2018). Few Americans Receive All High-Priority, Appropriate Clinical Preventive Services. Health Affairs, 37(6). DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2017.1248

2.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Oral Health Surveillance Report: Trends in Dental Caries and Sealants, Tooth Retention, and Edentulism, United States, 1999–2004 to 2011–2016. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/pdfs_and_other_files/Oral-Health-Surveillance-Report-2019-h.pdf [PDF - 5.3 MB]

3.

Lebrun-Harris, L.A., Canto, M.T., & Vodicka, P. (2019). Preventive Oral Health Care Use and Oral Health Status Among US Children. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 150(4), 246-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2018.11.023

4.

Allen, E.M., Call, K.T., Beebe, T.J., McAlpine, D.D., & Johnson, P.J. (2018). Barriers to Care and Healthcare Utilization Among the Publicly Insured. Med Care, 55(3), 207-214. DOI: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000644

5.

Syed, S.T., Gerber, B.S., & Sharp, L.K. (2014). Traveling Towards Disease: Transportation Barriers to Health Care Access. Journal of Community Health, 38(5), 976-993. DOI: 10.1007/s10900-013-9681-1