PRINCIPLES AND STRATEGIES IN TEACHING MLS
The correct use of medications and the pursuit of
CHAPTER 2: HISTORY OF HEALTH EDUCATION AS AN
EMERGING PROFESSION
HEALTH EDUCATION
• Health Education is a process concerned with
designing, implementing, and evaluating educational
programs that enable families, groups,
organizations, and communities to play active roles
in achieving, protecting, and sustaining health.
• Its purpose is to contribute to health and well-being
by promoting lifestyles, community actions and
conditions that make it possible to live healthful lives”
(The Code of Ethics for Health Educators,
Association for the Advancement of Health
Education).
• The field of health promotion and education has been
heard of by students in schools mainly from the
science and health teacher. Today it has been
described as an emerging profession, a synthesis of
discipline and profession.
• Discipline has been defined as “a branch of
knowledge or instruction” (Landau, 1979).
Profession is defined as “an occupation that
properly involves a liberal, scientific or artistic
education” (Landau 1979).
CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROFESSION
1. Provide a unique and essential social service (health
promotion and maintenance is an essential social
service.
2. Require of its members an extensive period of
preparation (BS degree or Masteral degree).
3. Have a theoretical base underlying its practice
(theories, principles and concepts of health are
widely used by health educators).
4. Have a system of internal controls that tends to
regulate the behavior of its members (this is
emerging with the certification of health education
specialists, academic program review, and the
different codes of ethics).
5. Have a culture peculiar to the profession (this is
presently evolving).
6. Be sanctioned by the community (the importance of
the work of health educators still must be recognized
by most communities)
7. Have an association that is representative of all and
can speak on behalf of all the members of the
occupation (health education has many associations
but there is not one organization that speaks for all).
PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH EDUCATION
Hubley (1983) stated that “health education is an essential
component of any program to improve the health of a
community and has the major role in promoting:
1. Good health practices (sanitation, clean drinking
water, good hygiene, breast feeding, infant weaning,
and oral rehydration)
2. The use of preventive services like immunization,
screening, antenatal and child health clinics
3.
rehabilitation regimens (for tuberculosis and leprosy,
respectively)
4. The recognition of early symptoms of disease and
promoting early referral
5. Community support for primary health care and
government control measures.
In developing countries, health education planning should
consider the following decisions:
1. What is the desired change
2. Where should health education take place
3. Who should carry it out
4. How should it be done
WHAT TO CHANGE?
• In considering what to change, the following steps
are suggested:
o Identify what the key problems are and
o What advice should be given
• Proposals for change of health practices and beliefs
are guided by principles. Proposals that seek change
should:
o Be simple to put into practice with the
existing knowledge and skills in the
community
o Fit in with existing lifestyle and culture and
not conflict with beliefs
o Not require resources or money, materials
and time that are not available locally
o Meet a felt need of the community
o Be seen by the people to convey real
benefits in the short term, not in the distant
future.
• Health education programs should be flexible and
should fit in with the people’s beliefs, culture, needs
and circumstances. Actual identification of their own
needs, active participation in identifying possible
solutions and pro-active formulation of action plans
and implementation of the plan of action will ensure
success and continuance of the health programs.
Once the benefits are seen and felt, this will pave the
way for the trust and goodwill that will make future
undertakings achievable and workable.
WHERE TO CONDUCT HEALTH EDUCATION?
• The conduct of health education can be done in the
privacy of a patient’s room which may involve the
patient and/or his family, in outpatient departments
of hospitals and clinics, health center and other
health care settings. It can also be done in the
community barangay hall involving different
organized groups or members of a health education
class or during the conduct of home/follow-up visits.
Places where people come together like in
marketplaces, church, community centers or the
town plaza can be a good venue for discussing
health-related matters whether the health educator is
using formal or informal strategies of teaching.
• It is noteworthy that the UNESCO “Education for All”
and the United Nations Literacy Decade have
included health education activities as strategies for
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 goal attainment and involved schools as academic
partners and venues for service delivery, thereby
illustrating such synergy.
• In line with this contention, serious efforts are now
directed to strengthen the school health and nutrition
programs which are the springboards for more
advanced health education programs since the
school health teacher is the first contact in formal
health education. Our schools have the mandate to
provide understand the importance of practicing
healthful behavior for active, productive, and
rewarding lives as individuals, family members and
citizens leading to the development of healthy
communities and the adoption of healthy lifestyles.
WHO SHOULD DO HEALTH EDUCATION?
• All health workers are responsible for promoting
health and instituting preventive aspects of care.
Since medical technologists belong to the field of
health, they are one of the primary agents for
conducting health education to the family, members
of the community, students, or anybody who is need
of health information and instruction.
HOW SHOULD HEALTH EDUCATION BE CONDUCTED?
1. Demonstration – the most useful where the process
of doing a procedure is shown and the skills or
techniques are practiced through return
demonstration. One example is by showing them
how to do proper handwashing.
2. Word of mouth – is the most influential way of
transmitting information especially of oral traditions
which are usually conveyed by means of puppets or
puppet shows, dramatization or sociodrama, role-
playing, storytelling, TV advertisements, music, and
songs. This can be planned and performed by the
local folks.
3. Use of audiovisual aids – leaflets, charts, posters,
etc.
4. Film showing – the use of modular instructions is
also effective medium of instruction where the
learner uses his/her senses of sight, hearing,
touching, smelling, and even tasting. Example of this
are some children shows.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE HEALTH
EDUCATION
The following are essential characteristics of effective health
education according to Hubley, 1983.
1. It is directed at people who have influence in the
community who are also the opinion makers.
2. The lessons are repeated and reinforced over time
using different methods.
3. The lessons are adaptable and use existing
channels of communication like songs, drama, and
storytelling.
4. It is entertaining and attracts the community’s
attention.
5. Uses clear, simple language with local expressions.
6. It emphasizes short term benefits of action.
7. It provides opportunities for dialogue, discussion,
and learner participation and feedback.
8. It uses demonstration to show the benefits of
adopting the practices.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEALTH EDUCATION AND
HEALTH PROMOTION
The primary role of health educators is to develop appropriate
health education/promotion programs for the people they
serve through:
1. Planning
2. Implementing, and
3. Evaluating the health plans/programs
STEPS IN DEVELOPING A HEALTH
EDUCATION/PROMOTION PROGRAM
The following are steps to consider in developing a health
education or health promotion program (Cottrell et al 2001)
1. Assessing the needs of the target population
2. Developing appropriate goals and objectives
3. Creating an intervention that considers the
peculiarities of the setting
4. Implementing the intervention
5. Evaluating the results
FUTURE TRENDS IN HEALTH EDUCATION
• Due to the heightened technological advances which
are occurring by the second, the health educator is
faced with enormous challenges as well as
opportunities due to the increasing demand of
society for health education and preventive care and
the heavy reliance on technology for the delivery and
acquisition of knowledge via the information highway
or the internet.
• Today, we see a return to population-based health
promotion and maintenance vis-à-vis the hospital-
based emphasis and preference for healthcare
during the last few decades. Its emphasis is on the
health of the community and the adaptation of
healthy behaviors and lifestyle through health
empowerment of the people. Thus, today’s health
educator is also considered as a Community Health
Worker whose main concern is to improve the health
of the people by using different methods and
strategies.
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