3rd Overview of Health Education

• changing context of health and disease ➔ lifestyles play an important role and within the accepted definition of health

  HEALTH EDUCATION
• Any combination of learning experiences designed to facilitate voluntary adoption of behavior conducive to health


  (Green et al, 1980)
• Comprises of consciously constructed opportunities for learning involving some form of communication designed to improve health literacy, including improving knowledge, and developing life skills which are conducive to individual and community health

  Health Promotion Glossary, WHO, 1998)
• • Health is a fundamental human right and that the

  attainment of the highest possible level of health is

  a most important worldwide social goal.

  • The existing gross inequality in the health status of

  the people particularly between developed and

  developing countries is politically, socially and

  economically unacceptable

  ALMA-ATA DECLARATION
• • Capacity of an individual to obtain, interpret, and

  understand basic health information and services

  Health literacy
• Health literacy domains (Zarcadoolas, Pleasant, and Green, 2003)?

  1. Fundamental literacy/numeracy

  2. Science and Technology

  3. Community/civic literacy

  4. Cultural literacy
• • planned combination of educational, political,

  regulatory and organizational supports for actions

  and conditions of living conducive to the health of

  individuals, groups or communities (Green and

  Kreuter, 2005)

  • Process of enabling people to increase control

  over the determinants of health and thereby

  improve their health (World Health Organization,

  1998)

  HEALTH PROMOTION
• • Behavior change

  philosophy

  • Cognitive-based

  philosophy

  • Decision-making

  philosophy

  Predominant philosophies

  • beacon light, guide,

  direction
• • Microbiology

  • Parasitology

  • Nutrition

  • Environmental

  Health

  • Occupational

  Health 


  Biomedical foundation - what or content
• • Psychology

  • Anthropology

  • Sociology

  • Political Science

  Psychosocial foundation - how or the methods
• ACTION AREAS FOR HEALTH PROMOTION

  Building blocks for promoting health (Moodie, 2004)?

  1. System for intelligence gathering

  2. Clear policy, legislation, regulation

  3. Communication of information

  4. Provision of primary services

  5. Sharing of responsibility across sectors

  6. Mobilization of communities
• World Health Organization Ottawa Charter on Health Promotion
• is the process of enabling people to increase control over the determinants of health.

  Health Promotion
• Five Health Promotion Actions?

  1. Build healthy public policy

  2. Creative supportive environments

  3. Strengthen community actions

  4. Develop personal skills

  5. Reorient health services
• STRATEGIES/METHODS IN HEALTH EDUCATION/PROMOTION

  CLASSIFICATION OF HEALTH PROMOTION STRATEGIES/METHODS?

  1. According to focus
  2. Use of Behavioral Change Theories Stages of behavior change
  3. According to target factors
• • The origin of health

  education/promotion

  • Usually utilized for

  purposes of

  secondary and

  tertiary prevention

  Focus on the individual
• • Utilized for a

  number of persons

  present in one

  setting at the same

  time

  • Appropriate for the

  purposes of

  primary, secondary,

  and tertiary

  prevention

  programs

  Focus on groups
• • Most of the time

  utilize mass media

  to maximize

  coverage of the

  target populations

  • Very cost – effective

  for the purposes of

  empowerment and

  for primary

  prevention

  Focus on whole population
• A condition in which people are not thinking about change or have expressed no interest in change

  Pre-contemplation
• The period in which people are seriously thinking about the behavior change

  Contemplation
• Period when an effort to try the behavior change is undertaken

  Preparation and Action
• The period when people can now maintain the new behavior

  Confirmation
• Targeting the predisposing factors


  Communication
• Target enabling factors


  Training
• Targeting environmental and reinforcing factors


  Community organizing/social mobilization
• COMMUNICATION METHODS?


  1. Interpersonal
  2. Mass media
• • Direct, face-to-face encounter between two

  groups or groups.

  • Individual -

  • Group –


  Interpersonal
• Advantages of intrapersonal

  o Two-way flow of communication

  o Can fit to the local/individual needs

  o Allows for immediate feedback

  o Allows for in –depth discussion of a

  topic

  o High capability to select particular

  audience
• • Use of television, radio and print

  • Social marketing and Folk media

  . Mass media
• Predominant philosophies - beacon light, guide, direction


  • Behavior change

  philosophy

  • Cognitive based

  philosophy

  • Decision making

  philosophy

  • Freeing

  philosophy

  • Social change

  philosophy
• Biomedical foundation - what or content


  • Microbiology

  • Parasitology

  • Nutrition

  • Environmental

  Health

  • Occupational

  Health
• Psychosocial foundation - how or the methods


  • Psychology

  • Anthropology

  • Sociology

  • Political Science