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Get Recommended Vaccines and Screening Tests
Helpful Tips
- Get recommended preventive services including screening tests and immunizations.
Recommendations for preventive services depend on your age, gender, health status,
and family history. Find out which screening tests and immunizations are recommended
for you.
Patient
Handout
- Every person is different. Refer to the websites below to see which preventive services
are recommended for you, based on your age, gender, health status, and family history.
Talk with your health care team about the recommendations that are right for you.
- Most Veterans, regardless of age, gender, health status and family history, should
be screened for alcohol abuse, depression, high blood pressure, HIV, military sexual
trauma, obesity, PTSD, and tobacco use. Most Veterans should receive a flu shot
every year and tetanus shot once every 10 years.
- If you are a woman who is considering pregnancy, it is important to check with your
health care team to be sure you are up-to-date with immunizations.
- All preventive services have pros and cons. Depending on your preferences, you may
wish to receive additional, fewer, or different services from those that are recommended.
More Information:
* Indicates that the link leads to a non-VA website. The VA is not responsible for
the content that is on the site.
If you have questions or interest in making a healthy living change, please
see your primary care team at the VA facility in which you receive health care.
Supporting Information:
Definitions
- Clinical Preventive Service: A service delivered in the clinical setting for the
primary prevention of disease, or for the early detection of disease in persons
with no symptoms of the target condition, with the goal of preventing or minimizing
future morbidity and mortality. Clinical preventive services typically include:
screening tests (for infectious diseases; cancers; heart and vascular diseases;
injury and violence; mental health conditions and substance abuse; metabolic, nutritional,
endocrine, musculoskeletal, obstetric, and gynecological conditions; and vision
disorders), immunizations, health behavior counseling, and preventive medications.
- Screening: An examination or testing of a person with no symptoms of the target
condition to detect disease at an early stage when treatment may be more effective,
or to detect risk factors for disease or injury.
- Health Behavior Counseling: A variety of individualized communication techniques
and strategies used by health professionals to engage patients in the process of
making health behavior changes to prevent disease, promote health, and enhance the
quality of life.
- Immunization: The administration of vaccines, toxoids, or immunoglobulins with the
goal of protecting susceptible patients from vaccine-preventable diseases.
- Preventive medications, substances, or devices: Drug products or other substances
used by a person who is not known to have the target condition, with the goal of
preventing future morbidity and mortality. This includes selected prevention supplies
or commodities, such as condoms.
VA Policy
Handbook 1120.05 Coordination and Development of Clinical Preventive Services (10-13-09):
http://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2095
Source Documents
- Men: Stay Healthy at 50+- Checklists for Your Health. AHRQ 2008;
http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/men50.htm,
08-IP002.
- Women: Stay Healthy at 50+-Checklists for Your Health. AHRQ 2008;
http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/women50.htm, 08-IP001.
- Men: Stay Healthy at Any Age- Your Checklist for Health. AHRQ 2007;
http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthymen.htm,
07-IP006-A.
- Women: Stay Healthy at Any Age- Your Checklist for Health. AHRQ 2007;
http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthywom.htm,
07-IP005-A.
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