Ehkäiseviä

Ehkäiseviä is the plural partitive form of the Finnish adjective ehkäisevä, meaning preventive or prophylactic. It describes actions, measures, programs, or policies that are intended to prevent a problem from occurring, such as disease, injury, crime, or social issues. In Finnish, ehkäisevä adjectives agree with the noun they modify and take the appropriate case and number; for example, ehkäiseviä toimenpiteitä or ehkäiseviä ohjelmia.

Origin and morphology: ehkäisevä is formed from the verb ehkäistä, “to prevent,” with the participial suffix -vä. The form ehkäiseviä is used for plural, indefinite objects and often appears in noun phrases naming preventive measures.

Contexts and usage: The term is common in public health, safety, education, social policy, and criminal justice. Typical collocations include ehkäiseviä toimenpiteitä (preventive measures), ehkäiseviä ohjelmia (preventive programs), and ehkäiseviä toimia (preventive actions). It is used to distinguish actions aimed at preventing problems from those that address problems after they occur.

Examples: In healthcare, vaccination campaigns are described as ehkäiseviä toimenpiteitä. Schools may implement ehkäisevää opetusta and preventive education to reduce risk behaviors. Policy documents often reference ehkäiseviä ohjelmia as part of public welfare strategies.

See also: ehkäisy (prevention), ehkäisevä (the base singular form of the adjective).