National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

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This site is sponsored by the VHA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (NCP) to help Veterans stay "well and well-informed."

Recommended Preventive Services for Men and Women

Getting recommended preventive services, such as screening tests and immunizations, is an important part of staying healthy. Which preventive services are recommended for you depends on your age, sex, health status, and family history. Here is a schedule to help you understand VA’s preventive services recommendations for average-risk men and women:

• Recommendations for Men
• Recommendations for Women

 

It’s important to remember that all preventive services have “pros” and “cons.” Learning about possible benefits and harms can help you make the best decision. Talk with your VA health care team about the preventive services that are recommended for people like you.

Staying Healthy Recommendation Charts list clinical preventive care Veterans should receive based on age, assigned sex at birth, and the type of preventive health service (e.g., screenings, preventive medications, health counseling, and vaccines). Current evidence is based on birth sex.  Because there is limited research on this population, health care staff caring for transgender and gender diverse Veterans should offer individualized clinical preventive services to achieve optimal health and well-being.

Cancer Screening Videos

Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, a former general internist at the White River Junction VAMC, has produced several short videos that explain how the screening process works. These videos address lead time and overdiagnosis bias, as well as several topics related to cancer screening:

• Lead time Bias
• Over-diagnosis bias
• Cancer Screening I—Benefits and Harms
• Cancer Screening II—False Positive Results
• Cancer Screening III – Over-diagnosis
• Cancer Screening IV—Over-diagnosis (long-term RCT follow-up)

 

Dr. Welch’s research focuses on the problems created by medicine's efforts to detect disease early—namely, that physicians test too often, treat too aggressively, and tell too many people that they’re sick. Most of his work has focused on over-diagnosis in cancer screening, in particular for melanoma, cervical, breast, and prostate cancer. He is also the author of the books Should I be Tested for Cancer? Maybe Not and Here's Why, Over-diagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health, and most recently, Less Medicine, More Health. Seven Assumptions that Drive Too Much Medical Care.