The Personalized Prevention Plan (PPP) is the document the patient and the health professional write together at the end of the prevention check-up. On a single page: one or two priority goals, the obstacles, concrete actions, the resources to draw on and follow-up. It is sent to the regular doctor (médecin traitant), unless the patient objects.
What is a Personalized Prevention Plan (PPP)?
The Personalized Prevention Plan (PPP) is the document, written together by the person and the health professional at the end of the prevention check-up, that sets one or two priority prevention goals and the concrete way to achieve them. It is the third and final step of Mon bilan prévention, France’s national prevention check-up program, after identifying risks with the self-assessment questionnaire and jointly prioritizing one or two topics.
The PPP is neither a prescription nor a medical report. It does not list everything that should be done; it makes choices. A good plan fits on one page, can be reread in two minutes, and tells you what you will do next week, with whom, and when you will talk about it again. Official PPP templates for each age group are among the program’s downloadable tools, in particular on the French Ministry of Health website, and are shared by Cespharm (the French pharmacists’ health education committee); the professional may also use an equivalent format.
A word on terminology, because the confusion is common in online searches: the “prevention plan” (plan de prévention, sometimes abbreviated PDP) of the French Labor Code is a mandatory document between a host company and an outside contractor for certain types of work. It has nothing to do with the PPP of the prevention check-up, which is never mandatory: it is a tool offered as part of an appointment fully covered (100%) by French National Health Insurance (Assurance Maladie), and it only makes sense if you buy into it. The general framework is described in the prevention check-up explained.
What are the sections of the Personalized Prevention Plan?
The Personalized Prevention Plan is organized around five sections: priorities, obstacles, concrete actions, resources and people involved, and follow-up arrangements. The official templates present the first four side by side, completed by the follow-up.
| Section | Question it answers | What goes in it | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| My health priorities | What do I want to act on now? | One or two realistic goals, phrased by the person | A list of ten topics, imposed goals |
| My obstacles | What has stopped me so far? | What the person identifies: time, pain, fear, cost, loneliness, habit | Judgments (“lack of willpower”) |
| Concrete actions | What do I do, when, how? | Dated, measurable steps within the person’s reach | Vague intentions (“move more,” “eat better”) |
| Resources and people involved | Who or what can help me? | Regular doctor, pharmacist, nurse, association, local service, helpline, app | Theoretical resources the person will not use |
| Follow-up arrangements | How and when do we talk about it again? | A dated appointment or call, with the check-up professional or the regular doctor | A plan with no follow-through |
Two sections make the difference in practice. Obstacles, because a plan that ignores what has held things back so far will fail at the same point. Follow-up, because a decision without an appointment is just a wish.
Who writes the PPP?
The PPP is co-written by the person and the health professional who carries out the check-up: doctor, nurse, pharmacist or midwife. Co-writing is not just a figure of speech: priorities and obstacles are written in the person’s own words, actions are agreed on, and the document is given to the person at the end of the appointment.
The professional’s role is to bring medical expertise and method: turn the risk screening into proposals, suggest actions of proven effectiveness, point to the right resources, and ask the questions that bring obstacles to light. Many draw on motivational interviewing techniques, which are the subject of voluntary training modules offered by the EHESP (French School of Public Health) to professionals in the program; no additional training is required, however, to carry out the check-up.
The person’s role is decisive: they are the one who chooses what they are ready to change. A goal that is a medical priority but refused is not a good PPP goal; it can come back at the next check-up or in a consultation with the regular doctor. The regular doctor, if they are not the one carrying out the check-up, is its recipient: the plan is sent to them unless the person objects, which allows them to pick it up during routine visits. The page the prevention check-up for doctors describes each professional’s role in detail.
How do you write a useful prevention plan?
To write a Personalized Prevention Plan that is truly useful, we apply five simple rules, whatever the age and whatever the professional.
- One or two priorities, no more. That is how the program is designed, and our experience confirms it: beyond two goals, nothing gets done. Ideally, choose a topic where the person is already making progress.
- Goals phrased by the person. “I want to be able to climb my three flights of stairs without stopping” is better than “improve cardiorespiratory fitness.” You can tell a good goal because the person can repeat it without reading it.
- Obstacles named without judgment. Lack of time, pain, fear of the result, cost, loneliness, past discouragement: writing them down already goes halfway to dealing with them, because each obstacle calls for a resource.
- Dated, measurable and modest actions. “Walk 20 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday after lunch with my neighbor” gets done; “move more” does not. A first action should be doable within the following week.
- Follow-up written down with a date. Call, message, consultation: the format does not matter, but the date appears on the plan. It is the section most often left blank, and the most decisive.
We add a sixth, less obvious rule: a plan should also say what the person is already doing well. Starting from a strength changes the tone of the whole document.
What happens to the PPP after the check-up?
At the end of the check-up, the person leaves with their Personalized Prevention Plan, and the document is sent to their regular doctor, unless they object, together with the risk-screening support form. It is sent by secure health messaging, uploaded to Mon espace santé (France’s personal digital health record), or passed on by the person themselves.
The PPP has no “validity period” in the way a prescription does: it stays in use until its goals are reached or reframed, most often at the planned follow-up or a visit to the regular doctor, and at the latest at the check-up for the next age group. Only one check-up is covered per age group, but the plan can be reviewed at any time with your regular doctor.
In practice, we recommend keeping it somewhere visible (fridge, planner, phone), taking a photo of it, and bringing it to your next consultation, whatever the reason for it.
Examples of Personalized Prevention Plans by age
Here are three illustrative examples, deliberately short, showing how the same structure adapts to ages 18-25, 60-65 and 70-75. The situations are fictional.
Personalized Prevention Plan at 18-25
| Section | Example: 21-year-old female student, poor sleep, no regular doctor |
|---|---|
| Priorities | 1. Get back to regular sleep. 2. Register a regular doctor and check my vaccines. |
| Obstacles | Screens late at night, irregular class schedule, anxiety before exams; does not know how to find a doctor. |
| Actions | Fixed bedtime five nights out of seven, phone out of the bedroom; appointment at the student health service this month; vaccination record picked up from parents. |
| Resources | University health service; sante.fr directory to find a regular doctor; student helpline if the anxiety persists. |
| Follow-up | Message from the nurse at 6 weeks; consultation with the new regular doctor at 3 months. |
Personalized Prevention Plan at 60-65
| Section | Example: 63-year-old man, smoker for 40 years, recently retired |
|---|---|
| Priorities | 1. Quit smoking. 2. Do the colorectal screening he has never done. |
| Obstacles | Fear of gaining weight, failed attempts, boredom since retirement; finds the colorectal test “disgusting.” |
| Actions | Smoking cessation consultation with nicotine replacement therapy; quit date set; screening kit picked up this week; two long walks a week with a former colleague. |
| Resources | Regular doctor or smoking cessation specialist; Tabac info service (French national quit-smoking service); pharmacist for nicotine replacement. |
| Follow-up | Call at 1 month around the quit date; consultation at 3 months with the regular doctor, test result in hand. |
Personalized Prevention Plan at 70-75
| Section | Example: 74-year-old woman, lives alone, two falls in the past year |
|---|---|
| Priorities | 1. Stop falling. 2. Get out of the house at least three times a week. |
| Obstacles | Afraid of falling outdoors, long-standing sleeping pill, cataract not yet operated on, no car. |
| Actions | Medication review with the pharmacist, then the regular doctor; eye appointment booked; sign-up for the town’s balance workshop, transportation arranged with the town hall. |
| Resources | Pharmacist; regular doctor; ophthalmologist; municipal social services center (CCAS); daughter for the first workshop. |
| Follow-up | Call at 1 month; consultation at 3 months with the weight, the adjusted medication list and the surgery date. |
The age-specific articles explore these situations further: the prevention check-up at 45-50, at 60-65 and at 70-75.
How do you keep your Personalized Prevention Plan going?
A Personalized Prevention Plan is kept going by three things: a first action within the week, a follow-up on a set date, and an honest revision when an action is not working. The plan is not a moral contract; it is a steering tool, and it is allowed to change.
In practice:
- Start with the smallest action, the one that depends only on you and can be done this week. An early success pulls the rest along.
- Use the resources listed. The pharmacist, the nurse, the association were written down to be called on; contacting them is part of the plan.
- Write down what happens, even in one line: whether you walked or not, your weight, your cigarettes. The 3-month follow-up relies on it.
- When you get stuck, change the action, not the goal. If the evening walk is not happening, try the morning; if the workshop is too far away, look for another one. An obstacle is information, not a failure.
- Talk about it again with your regular doctor, who has received the plan and can build it into your usual care, between two check-ups.
The prevention check-up questionnaire for the next age group will be a chance to measure how far you have come.
Key takeaways
- The Personalized Prevention Plan (PPP) is the document co-written by the person and the health professional at the end of the prevention check-up.
- It includes priorities (one or two), obstacles, concrete actions, resources and people involved, and follow-up arrangements.
- It is sent to the regular doctor unless the person objects, by secure messaging, via Mon espace santé or by the person.
- It is never mandatory and should not be confused with the “prevention plan” of the French Labor Code.
- A good plan fits on one page, starts with an action doable this week and includes a follow-up date.
What Sokrate lets you do
The Sokrate service offers an online preparation questionnaire that structures your risk factors, priorities and obstacles before the consultation, so the personalized plan can be written faster and more precisely. The plan is signed by a doctor, a letter is sent to your regular doctor unless you object, and a coordinating nurse handles follow-up over time. You can prepare your Personalized Prevention Plan right now.