Considering the quote ‘Prevention is better than cure’, it can be stated that the potential contribution of health professionals can be represented by their health promotion strategies and education of the population on how to maintain healthy lifestyles. A lot of people seek care from a medical professional only if they have certain health problems and experience certain symptoms. According to Lyons and Chamberlain, health status can be regarded as an important predictor of an individual’s willingness to consult a doctor. However, apart from physical symptoms, there are a number of reasons for which an individual may want to visit a medical center. The potential contribution of modern health professionals is to explain to individuals the benefits of prevention or early diagnosis of diseases. According to Barkway, the purpose of modern health promotion strategies is to improve the quality of life and assist individuals in maintaining healthy lifestyles.
Therefore, the role of health practitioners is to draw the individuals’ attention to the advantages of healthy lifestyles and educate them on how to maintain them. According to Paniagua et al., community interventions can be advantageous for health promotion initiatives, reaching inaccessible populations and changing their harmful health-related behaviors. Therefore, the development and successful implementation of health promotion strategies are one of the most important tasks posed before modern health professionals. Taking into account the quote ‘Prevention is better than cure’, it can be stated that the functions of modern health professionals are not limited to diagnosing patients and developing effective interventions, but should be extended to educating the population and implementing health promotion strategies.