Health education
Dr Abhay Nirgude
Professor and HoD
Department of Community Medicine
Definition
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.
Aims & Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
Encourage people to adopt and sustain
health promoting lifestyle and practices
Promote proper use of health services
available to them
Arouse interest, provide new knowledge,
improve skills and change attitudes in
making rational decisions to solve their
own problems
To stimulate individual and community
participation at every step
Role of Health Care provider
1.
Provide opportunities to people to learn
how to identify and analyze health and
health related problems and how to set
their own targets and priorities.
Changing concepts
1.
Prevention of disease:
Promotion of healthy lifestyles
2.
Modification of individual behaviour:
Modification of social environment
3.
Community participation :
Community Involvement
2.
Make health and health - related
information easily available to them.
3.
Indicate to the people alternative
solutions for solving the health and
health related problems they have
identified.
4.
People must have access to proven
preventive measures.
Approaches to health
education
1.
Regulatory approach
2.
Service approach
3.
Health Education approach
4.
Primary health care approach
Regulatory approach

Any governmental intervention, direct or
indirect designed to alter human
behaviour.
Service approach
 Tried
by the basic health services in 1960’s.
 Providing
services at their doorsteps.
 Conclusion: Health
on their felt needs.
service should be based
Health Education approach
 People
should have autonomy over their
own lives.
 Informed
people should be able to make
decisions to protect his own health.
 Planned
learning experiences to be arranged.
Primary health care approach
 Starting
 Full
from the people
participation
 Active
involvement in planning and delivery
of health services
 Receive
necessary guidance from the health
care providers in identifying their health
problems and finding workable solutions.
Contents of health education
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Human biology
Nutrition
Hygiene
Family health
Diseases prevention and control
Mental health
Prevention of accidents
Use of health services
Contents of health education
1.




Human biology:
Structure and functions of the body
Keeping physically fit
Best place to teach human biology:
UNICEF’s “ State of the world’s children
report 1989”: Basic list of health
information for every family: MCH,
Communicable diseases, House hygiene
2.


Nutrition:
Breast feeding and weaning practices
Link between dietary habits and certain
chronic diseases
3.


Hygiene:
Personal
Environmental:
Domestic and Community
4.



Family health
Family’s social and physical environment
Lifestyle and behaviour
Role of family in promotion of health
and prevention of diseases
5.
6.
7.
8.
Diseases prevention and control
Mental health
Prevention of accidents
Use of health services
Contents of health education
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Human biology
Nutrition
Hygiene
Family health
Diseases prevention and control
Mental health
Prevention of accidents
Use of health services
Principles of health education
1. Credibility: The degree to which the
message to be communicated is
perceived as trustworthy by the
receiver.
 Good health education is based on facts.
 It must be consistent and compatible
with scientific knowledge.
 Trust and confidence of the people on
the speaker.
2.




Interest: Health education should relate
to the interests of the people.
Find out the real health needs of the
people.
Programme should be based on the felt
needs of the people.
Community participation.
Bring about a recognition of their needs.
3.



Participation: Key word in health
education. Based on the principle of
active learning.
Aim at encouraging people to work
actively with the health workers.
Identifying their problems and
developing their own solutions.
High degree of participation: Sense of
involvement, personal acceptance and
decision making.
4. Motivation: Fundamental desire to
learn. Awakening this desire is motivation.
Motives: Primary and secondary
1.
Primary: Inborn desires
2.
Secondary: Desires created by outside
forces.
 Need for incentive is the first step in
learning to change.
 Incentives: Positive and Negative
 Contagious
5. Comprehension: To know the level of
understanding, education and literacy of
people to whom the teaching is directed.
Examples:
1. Antenatal case:
a. Eat iron and protein rich food
b. Eat green leafy vegetables, jaggery and
groundnuts, egg.
6.
Reinforcement:
Repetition at regular intervals.
No reinforcement: Individual may go
back to the pre – awareness stage.
7. Learning by doing:
8. Known to Unknown:
 Simple
More complicated
 Easy
More difficult
 Known
Unknown
Setting an example:
10. Good human relations
11. Feedback
12. Leaders
9.
Principles of health education
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Credibility
Interest
Participation
Motivation
Comprehension
Reinforcement
Learning by doing
Known to Unknown
Setting an example
Good human relations
Feedback
Leaders