Health Education - Review

Health education is a process that informs, motivates and helps people to adapt
and maintain healthy practices and lifestyles, advocates environmental changes as
needed to facilitate this goal and conducts professional training and research to the
same end.

1. Health and its Historical Development

Health is a highly subjective concept. Good health means different things to
different people, and its meaning varies according to individual and community
expectations and context.
Many people consider themselves healthy if they are free of disease or disability.
However, people who have a disease or disability may also see themselves as being in
good health if they are able to manage their condition so that it does not impact greatly
on their quality of life.

Health is a highly subjective concept. Good health means different things to

different people, and its meaning varies according to individual and community
expectations and context. Many people consider themselves healthy if they are free of
disease or disability. However, people who have a disease or disability may also see
themselves as being in good health if they are able to manage their condition so that it
does not impact greatly on their quality of life.
WHO defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social
well-being and not the mere absence of disease or infirmity.”
Physical health – refers to anatomical integrity and physiological functioning of
the body.
To say a person is physically healthy:
 All the body parts should be there.
 All of them are in their natural place and position.
 None of them has any pathology.
 All of them are doing their physiological functions properly.
 And they work with each other harmoniously.
Mental health - ability to learn and think clearly.
 A person with good mental health is able to handle day-to-day events and
obstacles, work towards important goals, and function effectively in society.

Social health – ability to make and maintain acceptable interactions with other people.

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  E.g. To feel sad when somebody close to you passes away.

The absence of health is denoted by such terms as disease, illness and

sickness, which usually mean the same thing though social scientists give them
different meaning to each.
Disease is the existence of some pathology or abnormality of the body, which is
capable of detection using, accepted investigation methods.
Illness is the subjective state of a person who feels aware of not being well.
Sickness is a state of social dysfunction: a role that an individual assumes when ill

Health Education Historical development

While the history of health education as an emerging profession is only a
little over one hundred years old, the concept of educating about health has been
around since the dawn of humans. It does not stretch the imagination too far to begin to
see how health education first took place during pre-historic era.
Someone may have eaten a particular plant or herb and become ill. That person
would then warn (educate) others against eating the same substance. Conversely,
someone may have ingested a plant or herb that produced a desired effect. That person
would then encourage (educate) others to use this substance.
At the time of Alma Ata declaration of Primary Health Care in 1978, health
education was put as one of the components of PHC and it was recognized as a
fundamental tool to the attainment of health for all. Adopting this declaration, and now
utilizes health education as a primary means of prevention of diseases and promotion of
health
The Alma-Ata Declaration is a brief document that recognizes primary health
care as a means to achieving the objective of health for all people of all nations.
In terms of health and safety programs, it's a joint declaration of nations under
the umbrella of the World Health Organization (WHO) that was adopted and announced
to the world in 1978 during the International Conference on Primary Health Care in
Almaty, Kazakhstan

The Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978):

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 "A process aimed at encouraging people to want to be healthy, to know
how to stay healthy, to do what they can individually and collectively to maintain
health, and to seek help when needed"

The modern concept of health education emphasizes on health behavior and

related actions of people.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

Alma-Ata Declaration adopted in 1978 provide a useful basis for formulating the
aims and objectives of health education, which may be stated below:
1. To encourage people to adapt and sustain health promoting lifestyle and
practices;
2. To promote the proper use of health services available to them;
3. To arouse interest, provide new knowledge, improve skills and change
attitudes in making rational decisions to solve their own problems; and
4. To stimulate individual and community self-reliance and participation to
achieve health development through individual and community
involvement at every step from identifying problems to solving them.

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2. Role of Health Care Providers:
The role of health care providers in this regard comprise to:
1. Provide opportunities for people to learn how to identify and analyze health
and health related problems, and how to set their own targets and priorities;
2. Make health and health related information easily accessible to the
community
3. Indicate to the people alternative solutions for solving the health and health-
related problems they have identified; and
4. People must have access to proven preventive measures.

Approaches to Health Education:

Regulatory approach - regulatory approach seeks change in health behavior
and improvement in health through a variety of external control or laws placed on
people.
 Ex. Compulsory wearing helmets during bicycle riding. Prohibition of
alcohol
Service approach - It aimed at providing all the health services needed by the
people at their door steps on the assumption that people would use them to improve
their own health
Health Education approach- it is a general belief in western democracies that
people will be better off if they have autonomy over their own lives, including health
affairs on which on informed person should be able to make decisions to protect his
own health. These are the higher goals of health education.
Primary health care Approach - this is radically new approach starting from the
people with their full participation and active involvement in the planning and delivery of
health services based on principals of primary health care.
 viz. community involvement and inter-sectoral coordination.
 The underlying objective is to help individuals to become self-reliant in
matters of health.

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3. Models of Health Education
HEALTH EDUCATION VS. PROPAGANDA
Health Education Propaganda
Knowledge and skills are actively Knowledge instilled in the minds of
acquired people
Makes people think for themselves Prevents thinking by readymade slogans
Disciplines primitive desires Arouses primitive desires
Appeals to reasons Appeal to emotions
Develops individuality personality and Develop a standard pattern of attitude
self-expression and behavior
Knowledge acquired through self-reliant Knowledge is spoon-fed
activity
Process is behavioral centered Process is information centered
Develops reflective behavior Develops reflexive behavior

Medical model - the assumption was that people would act on the information
supplied by health professionals to improve their health. In this model:
 Social;
 Cultural; and,
 Psychological factors, were thought to be of little or no importance.
The medical model did not bridge the gap between knowledge and behavior.
Social Intervention model - the motivation model ignored the fact that in a
number of situations, it is not the individual who needs to be changed but the social
environment which shapes the behavior of individual and the community.
It is often found that people will not readily accept and try something new
or novel until it has been "legitimated" (or approved) by the group to which they belong
Motivation Model:
 AWARENESS - In health education, we must first create awareness of
health needs and problems through a program of public
 MOTIVATION: includes the stages of interest, evaluation and decision0-
making. The individual evinces interest in the subject; he may seek more
detailed information about the usefulness, limitations or applicability of the
new idea or practice.
 ADOPTION: the new idea or acquired behavior becomes part of his own
existing values. This is called internalization

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4. Terms Used for Communication and Health
Education Activities
Health education has been defined in many ways by different authors and
experts.
Lawrence Green defined it as “a combination of learning experiences designed to
facilitate voluntary actions conducive to health.”
 The terms “combination, designed, facilitate and voluntary action” have significant
implications in this definition.

Combination: emphasizes the importance of matching the multiple determinants of

behavior with multiple learning experiences or educational interventions.

Designed: distinguishes health education from incidental learning experiences as

systematically planned activity.

Facilitate means create favorable conditions for action.

Voluntary action means behavioral measures are undertaken by an individual, group

or community to achieve an intended health effect without the use of force, i.e., with full
understanding and acceptance of purposes.
Most people use the term health education and health promotion
interchangeably. However, health promotion is defined as a combination of
educational and environmental supports for actions and conditions of living conducive to
health.

Various terms used for communication and health education activities

 Information, Education and Communication (IEC) is a term originally from
family planning and more recently HIV/AIDS control program in developing
countries. It is increasingly being used as a general term for communication
activities to promote health.
 Information: A collection of useful briefs or detailed ideas, processes, data and
theories that can be used for a certain period of time.
 Education: A complex and planned learning experiences that aims to bring
about changes in cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitude, belief, value) and
psychomotor (skill) domains of behavior.
 Communication: the process of sharing ideas, information, knowledge, and
experience among people using different channels.

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  Social mobilization is a term used to describe a campaign approach combining
mass media and working with community groups and organizations.
 Health extension is an approach of promoting change through demonstration,
working with opinion leaders and community based educational activities.
 Nutrition education is education directed at the promotion of nutrition and
covers choice of food, food-preparation and storage of food.
 Family Life Education refers to education of young people in a range of topics
that include family planning, child rearing and childcare and responsible
parenthood.
 Patient education is a term for education in hospital and clinic settings linked to
following of treatment procedures, medication, and home care and rehabilitation
procedures.
 Behavior Change Communication (BCC): Is an interactive process aimed at
changing individual and social behavior, using targeted, specific messages and
different communication approaches, which are linked to services for effective
outcomes.
 Advocacy: refers to communication strategies focusing on policy makers,
community leaders and opinion leaders to gain commitment and support. It is an
appeal for a higher-level commitment, involvement and participation in fulfilling a
set program agenda.

CONTENTS OF HEALTH EDUCATION:

1. Human biology
2. Nutrition
3. Hygiene
4. Family health
5. Disease prevention and control
6. Mental health
7. Prevention of accidents
8. Use of health services

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5. Ethical Principles
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
 AUTONOMY -individuals have a right to self-determination, that is, to
make decisions about their lives without interference from others.
 VERACITY - being honest and telling the truth
 NONMALEFICENCE - non-harming or inflicting the least harm possible to
reach a beneficial outcome. 
 BENEFICENCE - doing good or what is right 
 JUSTICE -giving each person what he or she deserves or, in more
traditional terms, giving each person his or her due; fairness
 FIDELITY/ CONFIDENTIALITY- privacy and respecting someone's
wishes; trust

LEGALITY OF PATIENT EDUCATION AND INFORMATION

The patient’s right to adequate information regarding his or her physical condition,
medications, risks, and access to information regarding alternative treatments is
specifically spelled out in the Patient’s bill of Rights

Documentation
Health teaching should be properly documented in the patient’s
record. Unfortunately, this is probably the most undocumented skill because nurses do
not recognize the scope and depth of the teaching they do.

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