Prevention – The art of learning from what never happened. Special issue of SMT

Prevention – acting before rather than after the fact – is often highlighted as a key to sustainable healthcare and a resilient society. But prevention is not only about medical interventions; it also involves emotional and intellectual preparedness. It encompasses both historical lessons and future responsibilities – listening to past visions of well-being and safeguarding future generations.

In a special issue of Socialmedicinsk tidskrift, prevention is explored from a medical humanities perspective. The issue contains six articles in which the authors explore prevention as an idea – the notion of anticipating and averting illness, suffering, and death through various measures – separation, selection, surveillance, and treatment – which are placed at the center. The idea for this issue originated within the Swedish Network for Medical Humanities, and it is now available to read HERE.