HEALTH EDUCATION IS THE PROCESS OF PASSING

ON HEALTH MESSAGES WITH THE AIM OF

INFLUENCING PEOPLES’ BEHAVIOURS, ATTITUDES
AND PRACTICES.

HEALTH PROMOTION IS THE EFFORT BY THE

GOVERNMENT OR OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS
TO BUILD CAPACITY OF THE COMMUNITY TO
TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR HEALTH.
EXAMPLES OF HEALTH EDUCATION AND
HEALTH PROMOTION

HEALTH EDUCATION

Radio H/E programmes

Drama shows

Film show

Person to person

Posters, books & magazines(IEC materials)

Mobile audio systems/P.A system

T.V

Newspapers
 HEALTH PROMOTION
Home improvement campaigns
Selection and training VHT’S
Family health days
Home visiting programmes
Health counselling
Provision of safe water sources
 Group Work
Assess the advantages and
disadvantages of different methods
of health education in terms of
average, cost/affordability,
accessibility, clarity, feedback.
 IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH
EDUCATION
To create awareness on health issues.
To prevent disease occurrence in the
community.
To make community aware of the available
health services.
To make health workers aware of the health
needs and health problems of the community.
It builds skills of the community/individuals to
manage their health problems.
 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
1. Identify H/E programmes which
are ongoing in your district.
2. Which programmes do you regard
as effective and why?
3. Which ones are more efficient and
why?
4. Identify health promotion
programmes in your district/state.
Principles of Health Education
These are the building blocks or pillars of H/E.
They include;
oInterest
oParticipation; learning by doing.
oComprehension
oReinforcement
oMotivation
Known to Unknown (Surbhi 2011)
http://www.preservearticles.com/Principles -of-heal
th-education.html
 INTEREST
People do not listen to those things which are not of
their interest.
People are not interested in health slogans such as “Take
Care Of Your Health”, “Be Healthy”, “Be Clean”, etc.
Therefore Health Educators must find out the real needs
of the people.
Health Educators must identify the felt needs of the
people & should be able to address them.
Where the need/demand is not felt, the Health Educator
should create it.
 PARTICIPATION
•Participation is based on the psychological principle that
group learning, group discussion provide opportunities for
active learning.
•Health Education must involve social participation where
people are active participants rather than active listeners or
spectators.
•Learning is an action process, not a “memorizing “ one in the
narrow sense. “If I hear, I forget, if I see, I remember, if I do, I
know”, so health habits should be cultivated in practice.
 COMPREHENSION
•In health, one must know
the level of understanding of
the targeted people.
•Thus, the teaching must be
within the mental capacity of
the target group.
 REINFORCEMENT
Few people can learn and adopt new ideas for
the first time.
Repetition at intervals is extremely useful. It
assists comprehension and understanding.
Therefore, health instruction needs
reinforcement(repetitive support and inducement).
 MOTIVATION
• In every person, there is a fundamental desire to learn.
• Awakening of this desire is called motivation. There are two
types of motives; primary & secondary.
• Primary motives are; sex, hunger, survival, which initiate
people into action. These motives are inborn desires.
• Secondary motives are based on desires created by the
outside forces or incentive. These include; praise, love, rivalry,
rewards, punishment & recognition.
• In Health Education, motivation is an imperfect factor. The
incentives may be positive or negative, but the positive must
be emphasized against the negative.
 KNOWN TO UNKNOWN
• For imparting Health Education, one should
proceed from the known to the unknown.
• One should start from where people are i.e.
with what they understand, then proceed with
new knowledge.
• The existing knowledge of the people should
be used as pegs on which to hang new
knowledge.
 Seven key roles of Health Educators
 Implement Health Education strategies, interventions and
programmes.
 Communicate and advocate for health & Health Education.
 Conduct evaluation and research related Health Education.
 Serve as a Health Education resource person.
 Assess individual and community needs for Health
Education.
 Plan Health Education strategies, interventions and
programmes.