Abstract

CUBA FUENTES, María Sofía  and  MORERA GONZALEZ, Lisdamys. Enhancement of health quaternary prevention. Acta méd. peruana [online]. 2016, vol.33, n.1, pp.65-69. ISSN 1728-5917.

Ian McWhinney defines the role of the family doctor/general practitioner as that scientific and social professional with capabilities to observe the lives of patients, define their health, aspirations and aims. Being individuals gives us the chance to find a value for health, both personal and collective, looking from the perspective of the social determinants of health. The individual in the midst of this process requires a system that mayfulfill the health needs and determines a better state of health. In the last century we engaged in searching and analyzing risk factors, and then facing them as causing the individual dysfunctions of our patients. That is how Marc Jamoulle, a family doctor from Belgium, brought the concept of quaternary prevention, which is now part of the WONCA dictionary: "Quaternary prevention is the action taken to identify a patient at risk of overtreatment, for protecting them from a new medical invasion, and to suggest him / her interventions which are ethically acceptable". This is directly related to the actions of the family doctor and the need to think differently. And this is the cause that moves us to allow us to accept this way of acting through quaternary prevention as a way of action within primary care, thinking of our patients and on what is best for them, accepting our real limitations.

Keywords : Quaternary prevention; Primary health care; Family practice.

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