While emerging UK policy in relation to adult protection confirms the
theoretical primacy of prevention, the meaning thereof is unevenly elaborated.
In residential and nursing care, prevention is explicitly promoted
via a combination of transparent standards and rigorous regulation. In
the domestic and civil spheres, however, the limits of public law protection
mean that prevention cannot be conceived in terms of such a unitary
model. Drawing on tentative messages from research, this paper explores
a range of policies which, while diverse in their explicit aims, could claim
to pursue an implicitly preventive objective in relation to abuse. These
include community care provision, both generally and with an eye to
national service objectives, together with specific funding for the promotion
of independence, extending into wider self-help and social inclusion
initiatives.