Question 3: Role of Health Education in Health Promotion
Introduction
Health education is a profession of educating people about health. It is a wholistic way of approaching health and hence the areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health. It can be defined as the principle by which individuals and groups of people learn to behave in a manner conducive to the promotion, maintenance, or restoration of health. Whitehead (2004) defines health education as activities that seek to inform individuals on the nature and cause of health/illness and that individual’s personal level of risk associated with their lifestyle behavior. Health education
…show more content…
This allows the individual to become autonomous, giving the person freedom to make their own choices. Giving back control regarding their own health and wellbeing.
Health Education
According to a journal, “Defining the Role of the Health Education Specialist in the United States”, although there has been tremendous progress in the past decade or two, there remain many misconceptions about health education and the role of health educators. Understanding these misconceptions is important because they can be potential barriers for both health educators and, ultimately, learners. A review of the frequently reported misconceptions is provided below.
Misconception 1: Health education is the transference of knowledge.
Education is more than simply imparting knowledge. Educational programs are not efficacious in achieving long-term improvement unless they also promote changes in attitude and motivation. When conducting health education, there is need of preparation in teaching techniques and behavioral
…show more content…
The aim is to motivate them with whatever interests they may have in improving their health and develop in them a sense of responsibility for health conditions for themselves at all levels i.e. as individuals, as members of families, and as communities. It is important, in health education, to include an appraisal of what is known by a population about a disease or a health event, to make assessments of habits and attitudes of the people as they relate to spread and frequency of the disease or health event, and to do the presentation of specific means to remedy observed