Public health experts in Wales say supporting people to stay well is key to addressing some of the current challenges facing the health and care system. Long-term conditions, which are potentially preventable or manageable through earlier intervention, are experienced by 48% of adults in Wales, with 20% living with two or more such conditions.

Musculoskeletal issues are the most reported (17%), followed by mental health problems (12%) and heart and circulatory conditions (11%). In addition, avoidable deaths are twice as high in the most deprived communities compared to the least.

To help improve this, Public Health Wales has developed a new approach aimed at embedding prevention into everyday decision-making across the system – helping people in Wales to live longer, healthier lives.

The Prevention-Based Health and Care (PBHC) Framework identifies the key actions needed to ensure that services not only treat illness but also improve health and wellbeing while reducing health inequalities.

These include identifying people at risk earlier and aligning prevention work across the NHS and social care.

Many prevention strategies are already being delivered in Wales, including the All Wales Diabetes Prevention Programme, Stop a Stroke, Falls Prevention services and more.

The PBHC approach will aim to identify health risks earlier and by helping people stay well, it will reduce the impact of these conditions on individuals and the NHS.

Prevention is also an important part of the solution to achieving sustainable health and care services. The PBHC Framework brings together a range of approaches to comprehensively embed prevention in the health and care system.

This includes tackling health inequalities, managing the health of the population, improving healthcare services, and working with other sectors to make health a part of all policies and decisions.

Dr Amrita Jesurasa, Consultant in Public Health in the Primary Care Division at Public Health Wales, said: "Putting prevention at the heart of care helps support people to stay healthy, to detect ill-health earlier, and to intervene quickly to help those with long-term health conditions live well.

“The PBHC Framework provides a systematic approach that helps us to understand the actions needed to achieve specific prevention goals, like reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular disease. It does this by helping us identify who needs to benefit from preventative action, what action is needed and how it should be implemented.

“A sustainable healthcare system is one where there is reduced demand for care because people are healthier, and where high-quality care is available for those who need it when they need it.”

The value of investing in prevention is well evidenced. Public health interventions cost significantly less than healthcare interventions, with each additional year of good health estimated at £3,800, compared to £13,500 for healthcare-based approaches.

The PBHC Framework is designed for use across all levels of the health and social care system, from strategic and operational planning to frontline care delivery. It helps professionals in both strategic and operational planning to identify opportunities for alignment across the system and collaborate to optimise better health.