Case studies and resources
The partnership developed a series of case studies which show what primary, secondary and tertiary preventative approaches look like in action across our networks.
And for those interested in a bit of further reading, we have signposted to some external resources which go into more detail on prevention approaches and the related policy context.
Prevention case studies
To support the 2025 joint statement, the partnership developed a series of case studies which show what primary, secondary and tertiary preventative approaches look like in action. They are based on the experiences and work of organisations across our networks and make reference to the different types of preventative approaches that can be utilised.
Primary Prevention
“Action on the building blocks of health which stops problems
happening in the first place.”
Secondary Prevention
“Action which focuses on early detection of a problem to support early intervention and treatment or reduce the level of harm.”
Tertiary Prevention
"Minimising the negative consequences (harm) of a health issue through careful management."
Useful resources
There are three key documents that, together, set out a renewed national policy on prevention, as well as being a key part of the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2026 - 2031.
Public Service Reform Strategy
Scotland’s Population Health Framework
Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework
The third and community sector played an important role in developing these policy documents, informed by our experience of working with and in communities living with the unfair and avoidable consequences of health inequalities.
The Scottish Government Prevention Unit supports the shift towards more preventative approaches to public services. They have a collection of publications, tools and resources on the Scottish Government website.
This Scottish Parliament Information Service briefing on preventative spending explores prevention as a principle of public service delivery which includes risk avoidance and mitigation, long-term thinking, and linking spending and outcomes.
Public Health Scotland have a helpful section on their website which goes into more detail about preventative approaches in public health, looking at the building blocks of health and the three levels of prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary.
This article looks at CIPFA's (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) work on preventative investment and how they are bringing practitioners together to build a community of practice that can turn shared ambition into practical action.
This useful article from Community Food and Health Scotland outlines the ways community food organisations take preventative approaches in their work.
This video from Planet Youth shows how using a preventative approach can help us to move upstream, tackling the root causes of poor health and wellbeing and enabling meaningful action.
Seven areas to be considered if Scotland’s ambitions for public sector reform that delivers prevention are to be realised are outlined in this SHERU blog.
