Adult Preventive Health

  • Conduct a patient interview so as to identify any significant age-, sex-, context-specific risk factors for health conditions, including exercise, diet, substance use, immunizations, falls.
  • Conduct an age-, sex-, and context-specific evidence-informed physical exam
  • Be familiar with available screening tests, including Pap smears, mammography, colorectal cancer screening, bone mineral density, diabetes screening and hyperlipidemia screening, and understand how to manage abnormal results
  • Counsel patients on relevant health promotion/disease prevention strategies, including immunizations, exercise, diet, calcium/vitamin D supplementation, smoking cessation.
  • Understand the current recommendations by the Canadian Task Force for screening for Prostate Cancer in Canada and also understand the controversies that exist in these recommendations in order to be able to discuss a screening strategy with a patient

Core Resources

Adult Health Checkup

Ridley J, Ischayek A, Dubey V, Iglar K. Adult health checkup: Update on the Preventive Care Checklist Form©. Canadian Family Physician. 2016;62(4):307-313.

Update to the Preventive Care Checklist Form©

Zaltzman A, Dubbey V and Iglar K. Update to Preventative Care Checklist Form. Can Fam Physician 2020: 66: 270-272.

Cancer screening in Canada

Ontario Health. Cancer Care Ontario. Ontario Cervical Screening Program (OCSP): Screening Recommendations Summary. January 2022. Available at: https://www.cancercareontario.ca/en/guidelines-advice/cancer-continuum/screening/resources-healthcare-providers/cervical-screening-guidelines-summary

Ontario Cervical Screening Guidelines Summary

Cancer Care Ontario.  Ontario Cervical Screening Guidelines Summary.  Revised October 2016.

Ontario Colorectal Screening

Cancer Care Ontario. Screening for Colorectal Cancer.

Screening and Prevention emodule

Law M, Mardimae A, Moaveni A et al. Screening and Prevention: Family and Community Medicine Clerkship Core Curriculum Module. University of Toronto.

Expansion of OBSP for Individuals Ages 40-49_FAQs

Ontario Health. Cancer Care Ontario. Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) Available at: https://www.cancercareontario.ca/en/cancer-care-ontario/programs/screening-programs/ontario-breast-obsp

Recommendations on screening for prostate cancer with the prostate-specific antigen test

Appendix to Bell N, Gorber SC, Shane A, et al. Recommendations on screening for prostate cancer with the prostate-specific antigen test. CMAJ. 2014; 186(16), 1225-1234. Copyright © 2014 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors.

Gender-Affirming Cancer Screening Guidelines for Trans and Non-Binary Clients

Alliance for Healthier Communities (2022) Gender-Affirming Cancer Screening Guidelines for Trans and Non-Binary Clients.

Supplemental Resources

n.a. - Canadian Task Force Preventive Health Care Website

Canadian Task Force guidelines. Available at http://canadiantaskforce.ca/

Primary care of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Sullivan WF, Diepstra H, Heng J, Ally S, Bradley E, Casson I, et al. Primary care of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 2018 Canadian consensus guidelines. Can Fam Physician 2018;64:254-79.

Better decision making in preventive health screening

Bell NR, Grad R, Dickinson JA, et al. Better decision making in preventive health screening. Can. Fam. Physician. 2017; 63(7) 521-524;