Introduction and objective.:
The article deals with the issues of prevention and health, presenting a change in the approach to both phenomena, and also emphasizes the contemporary understanding of health from a holistic perspective. The aim of the study is to draw attention to the role of prevention as a positive influence, targeted to multiply the resources stored in individuals and their environment so as to enhance health in the somatic, psychological and social spheres.

Brief description the state of knowledge.:
For decades, health was defined by using objective categories. According to the biomedical model, the emphasis was placed on the disease and the factors that condition it. Gradually, the role of psychosocial factors in somatic disorders and human activity in creating health, understood also in terms of individual development as well as the development of society, began to be recognized. This change was associated with the adoption of the biopsychosocial model and a holistic vision of the human being. Consequently, further progress concerning the issues was associated with the question of development of prevention and health promotion. The emphasis has shifted from the focus on factors threatening health to the mechanisms which condition it.

Summary:
This article presents a change in the approach to health and disease, as well as promotional-prevention measures. It presents a shift from the pathogenic paradigm (biomedical) focusing on disease, to the psychosocial and salutogenic, with the emphasis on health mechanisms. The changes in the area of prevention, where the role of the individual as an active creator of holistic health, has been recognized.