Levels of Prevention

Understanding the Levels of Prevention strengthens Resilience and empowers Human Flourishing

At Resilient Warrior, we believe strengthening resilience and empowering human flourishing begins by understanding the levels of prevention along with the continuum of risk. Modern prevention science—embraced across public health—frames health, fitness, wellness, and resilience as a layered continuum of proactive wholistic care and support. The goal is to prevent harmful and destructive behaviors, injuries and illness before they happen.

prevention begins with health, fitness and wellness promotion

At this level the focus is on building a resilient fighting force by promoting health, fitness and wellness by establishing funded policies and programs that provide resources to develop Total Force Fitness, resilience, human flourishing and positive well-being. DOD Instruction 1010.10, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, (DoDI 1010.10) establishes the Department of Defense's official policy for health promotion and disease prevention, aiming to improve military readiness and quality of life by creating healthy environments and supporting wellness activities like fitness, nutrition, and stress management for service members, families, and civilians, updating earlier directives. This instruction outlines responsibilities and frameworks for comprehensive programs, focusing on proactive health measures rather than just treating illness, and integrates with broader initiatives like Total Force Fitness, according to Health.mil and other military health sources. 

Primordial Prevention: Addressing Root Conditions

Primordial prevention focuses on reducing risk factors within the warriors social-ecological system. This includes but not limited to improving access to supportive resources, strengthening social structures, better health and child care, enhanced fitness centers, access to healthy food, better housing and parking, and shaping healthier climates where harmful and destructive behaviors occur. Primordial prevention operates “upstream,” targeting the social, cultural, and environmental determinants of wellbeing.

Primary Prevention: Building Protective Strength

Primary prevention acts at the earliest stage in the life of a warrior and their family to actually effect change in the individual, family, command and community. This includes promoting healthy relationships, physical fitness, emotional wellness, and habits that enhance individual resilience and human flourishing. In military and community settings, this aligns with the DoD’s integrated primary prevention policy and program to foster healthy climates and reduce shared risk factors and develop protective factors to prevention harmful and destructive behaviors.

Secondary Prevention: Early Identification and Response

Secondary prevention engages when risks or harm first emerge. It emphasizes early detection, reporting, and prompt intervention to halt escalation—whether through medical care, support services, legal counseling,resligious support or leadership actions that stabilize a situation and prevent more serious outcomes. This phase helps preserve fitness and wellbeing before harm deepens.

Tertiary Prevention: Long-Term Recovery and Care

When harm has already occurred, tertiary prevention provides rehabilitation and sustained support to mitigate long-term effects and restore functioning. In public health terms, this aligns with therapeutic care and resilience-building efforts that help warriors reclaim stability and purpose after injury, trauma, or chronic challenge.

Why These Levels Matter

Together, these prevention levels form a comprehensive resilience and human flourishing framework. They move us beyond reactionary models into systems that anticipate, buffer, and sustain health, fitness, and human flourishing. The levels of prevention are wholistic and not just standardize awareness and admonishment training which has proven not to work and shown efficacy of the past 40 years. This levales approach mirrors how both civilian public health and military prevention programs aim to promote health, fitness and positive wellbeing