Overview about Health Education PDF

**[Overview about Health education ]** **[At the end of this chapter, the student will be able to: -]** - Determine the purpose, objectives and principles of health education. - Specify importance of Health Education. - Know characteristics of health educator. - Define targets for h...

**[Overview about Health education ]** **[At the end of this chapter, the student will be able to: -]** - Determine the purpose, objectives and principles of health education. - Specify importance of Health Education. - Know characteristics of health educator. - Define targets for health education. - Define providers of health education. - Determine role of health educator **[Outlines]** - Introduction**:** - Definition of health - Definitions of health education - Definitions of health educator - Definition of health promotion - Goals of health education - Objectives of health education - Characteristics of health educator - Targets for health education - types of health education - role of health educator - Content of health education - Barriers of health education - Health education settings. **[Introduction:]** Community health education is an exciting and growing profession that can lead to jobs all over the world in public health agencies, voluntary non-profit organizations, schools, colleges, universities, medical care settings, business/industry and more. Community health majors develop practical skills and a sound knowledge of public health that may be based on health promotion theories. They learn to positively influence the health behavior of individuals, groups, and communities while addressing the lifestyle factors (i.e., nutrition, physical activity, sexual behavior and drug use) and living and working conditions that influence health. 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. **[Definition of health ]** - The state of complete physical, mental & social well-being & not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". **[Definitions of health education ]** - A process that informs, motivates and help people to adopt and maintain health practice and lifestyles - Teaching process aiming to changes in practices, knowledge & attitudes of people. -  Is any combination of learning experiences designed to help individuals and communities improve their health, by increasing their knowledge or influencing their attitudes. - **Knowledge**: An intellectual acquaintance with facts, truth, or principles gained by sight, experience, or report. - **Attitude** a tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain idea, object, person, or situation. Attitude influences an individual\'s choice of action, and responses to challenges, incentives, and rewards (together called stimuli). - **Skills:** The ability to do something well, arising from talent, training, or practice. - **Belief:** Acceptance of or confidence in an alleged fact or body of facts as true or right without positive knowledge or proof; a perceived truth. - **Values**: Ideas, ideals, customs that arouse an emotional response for or against them. - [**[Goals of Health education]**](https://www.grcc.edu/humanresources/wellness/sevendimensionsofwellness)The ultimate goal of health education is: Improve the health of the individual and community level. - Everyone needs health education to young and old, men and women, educated and illiterate as it works to improve the awareness and raise the level of interest and awareness among all segments of society. **[Objectives of health education]** - To build up a correct awareness on health - To change unhealthy lifestyle - To nurture health behavior and lifestyle - To reduce and eliminate the health risk factor - To prevent illness and promote health - To increase knowledge of the factors that affect health. - To encourage behavior which promotes and maintains health. - To encourage appropriate use of health services especially preventive services. - To inform the public about medical advances their uses and their limitations. **[Targets for health education: -]** - **Individuals** such as clients of services, patients, healthy Individuals. - **Groups** E.g. groups of students in a class, youth club. - **Community** E.g. people living in a village. [**Content of health education:** -] - **Human biology:** teach about structure and functions of the body and how to keep physical fit. - **Nutrition:** The aim of health education in nutrition is to guide people to choose optimum and balanced diet who contain nutrient necessary for energy growth and repair - **Sanitation**: environment sanitation and personal hygiene - **Maternal and childcare**: sex education, antenatal natal and postnatal care, family planning, weaning, accident prevention and first aid. - **Infectious disease**: kind (measles, diphtheria, tuberculosis), source and mode of transmission, control measure. - **Mental health**: to help people to keep mentally healthy and to prevent a mental breakdown. - **Prevention of accident**: safety education should direct to the three main areas, homes, road and place of working. - **Use of health services**: to inform public about the health services that are available in the community and how use them **[Barriers of health education]** - Lack of time to teach is cited by educator as the greatest barrier - Personal characteristics of the educator play an important role in education process. Such as motivation to teach, lack of confidence. - Budget interferes with the adoption and time-saving teaching strategies and techniques. - The lack of space, privacy and noise in the various environmental setting. - Learners\' do not interest in changing behavior, unwillingness to learn or their ability to learn is in question. - A multitude of healthcare providers or educators covering much of the same content. There seems to be a malfunction of the educators as a result of inadequate coordination and delegation of responsibility. - The type of documentation system has an effect on the quality and quantity of teaching recorded. Both formal and informal teaching are often done but not written down because of a lack of time. - The stress of acute and chronic illness, anxiety, sensory deficits and low literacy this problem that can diminish learner motivation and interfere with the process of learning. - Lack of time to learn personal characteristics of the learner such as readiness to learn, motivation, and compliance. - The inconvenience, complexity, inaccessibility, fragmentation, and dehumanization of material or subject. - A health educator is someone who teaches people how to incorporate positive and healthy habits into their lives. They develop programs and materials that promote wellness and that encourage children and adults to make healthy decisions. Health educators work in a variety of settings, including schools, hospitals, non-profit organizations, government, [doctors](https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/doctor/)' offices, private businesses, and colleges. **[Characteristics of health educator:]** The health educator must: - - Be familiar with the traditions & popular customs of the recipient society. - Be a good example for the message of H/E he is presenting, i.e. He should not smoke at the time he asks others to quit smoking. - Believe in & be actively committed to the message of health education. - Have initiative & motivation as well as the capacity to communicate & convince others with his message. - Speak the recipient's language. - Pay attention to the backgrounds & culture of the recipient. **[Role of health educator ]** - Assess the needs of the people they serve - Develop programs and events to teach people about health topics - Help people find health services or information - Supervise staff who implement health education programs - Collect and analyze data to learn about their audience and improve programs -  Design and conduct evaluations and diagnostic studies to assess the quality and performance of health education programs. - Develop and present health education and promotion programs such as training workshops, conferences, and school or community presentations. -  Develop operational plans and policies necessary to achieve health education objectives and services. - Prepare and distribute health education materials, including reports, bulletins, and visual aids such as films, videotapes, photographs, and posters. - Develop and maintain health education libraries to provide resources for staff and community agencies. - Develop, prepare, and coordinate grant applications and grant-related activities to obtain funding for health education programs and related work. - Document activities, recording information such as the numbers of applications completed, presentations conducted, and persons assisted. - Maintain databases, mailing lists, telephone networks, and other information to facilitate the functioning of health education programs. **[Health education settings]** o Schools o Working on a college/university campus o Worksites o In health care settings o In community organizations and government agencies