Periodic health encounter/preventive health advice

Rationale

A periodic health encounter/preventive health advice session represents an opportunity for the prevention or early detection of health-related problems. The nature of the examination will vary in timing and frequency, depending on the age, sex, occupation and psychosocial background of the patient. The encounter may take the form of an in-person visit, electronic or phone encounters, or delegated acts by other health care team members.

Causal conditions

(list not exhaustive)

1. All ages
   1. Injury prevention (e.g., noise control, seat belts, bicycle helmets)
   2. Lifestyle modification (e.g., physical activity, smoking prevention/cessation, sun exposure)
   3. Immunization 74-2 – Immunization
2. Infant and child
   1. Nutrition
   2. Growth
   3. Development
   4. Behaviours
   5. Other (e.g., hearing, amblyopia)
3. Adolescence
   1. Sexual activity (e.g., contraception, sexually transmitted infections [STI])
4. Young adult
   1. Female reproductive health (e.g., Papanicolaou test, STI screening, folic acid)
5. Middle-aged adult
   1. Cardiovascular health risks (e.g., blood glucose, blood pressure, lipid profile)
   2. Cancer screening (e.g., breast, colon, prostate, skin)
   3. Osteoporosis
6. Older adult
   1. Fracture and fall prevention (e.g., osteoporosis screening)
   2. Nutrition
   3. Dementia screening

Key Objectives

Given a patient presenting for a preventive health encounter/health advice session, the candidate will determine the patient’s risks for age and sex-specific conditions in order to guide history, physical examination, screening investigations and counselling.

Enabling Objectives

Given a patient presenting for a preventive health encounter/preventive health advice session, the candidate will

1. perform an appropriate history and physical examination based on the patient’s age, sex, and background;
2. list and interpret appropriate investigations, including
   1. results of evidence-based screening investigations specific to age and sex (e.g., fasting glucose, mammography);
3. construct an effective initial management plan, including
   1. communicating effectively with the patient to reach a common ground regarding goals related to disease prevention and risk reduction;
   2. recommending proven prevention strategies (e.g., smoking cessation, regular exercise);
   3. incorporating the preventive health principles into the care of the patient in case of a chronic disease.