04/19/2025 Seek wisdom, Elevate your intellect and Serve humanity.

INTRODUCTION

Kalkidan S.
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Course content

Definition and concepts

Historical Development
Rationale for H/P
Basic principles of H/P
Approaches to H/E
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Multi-factorial health determinants

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HI/HE/HP
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Health Information (HI)

HI is a series of messages transmitted to the public by
knowledgeable professionals.

H/I is blind to the reasons behind behavior

Appropriate for newly emerging health problems and

during epidemics
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Definition of Health education


“Any combination of learning experiences designed to
facilitate voluntary action conducive to health” Lawrence Green

Combination :matching multiple determinants of behaviors with

multiple learning experiences or educational intervention
Designed :HE is not incidental learning experiences. It is systematically
planned and organized activity.
Facilitate: creating favorable condition for action such as predispose,
enable, reinforce.
Voluntary :full understanding and acceptance of the purpose of the
action.
Action :measures taken by individuals, groups or community to achieve
the desired health effect.
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Definition …
 H/E "comprises of consciously constructed
opportunities for learning involving some form of
communication designed to improve health literacy,
including improving knowledge, and developing life
skills which are conducive to individual and
community health” (WHO)
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Health promotion
“any combination of health education and related
organizational, economic, and environmental
supports for behavior of individuals, groups, or
communities conducive to health”

(Green and Kreuter)

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Definition…
Combination: Matching multiple determinants of health with
multiple intervention or sources of supports.
Educational: refers to the communication part of HP;
that is HE.
Environmental: refers to the social, political, and
economic, organizational, policy and regulatory
circumstances influence behavior or more directly health
Create environments that support good health practices,
behaviors
HP=HE + Environmental support
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Health promotion
an umbrella term for a range of activities
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….HP(as a process)
Health promotion is defined as “the process of
enabling people to increase control over, and to
improve, their health” (Ottawa Charter for HP).

Action areas identified (for people’s wellness)

 building healthy public policy
 creating supportive environments
 strengthening community action
 developing personal skills
 re-orienting health services
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The aim of health promotion

The aim of health promotion is to reduce the underlying

causes of ill-health so that there is a long-term reduction
in many diseases, improve QoL at the end
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The relationship between HE and HP

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What health promotion is not ?

Public relation
Advertising
Patient education
Propaganda
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Historical Development of HE /P

As a practice as old as human being

As a profession in the world ~>100 years – USA

As a course: Gondar Health science ~ 1954

As a profession in Ethiopia: JU 2006

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Health promotion

Until 1980, HP simply referred to H/E.

HP is a term of more recent origin than HE.

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Principles of health promotion

1. Address the wider determinants of health
2. Base activities on the best available evidence
3. Act to reduce inequalities in health
4. Ensure active community participation
5. Empower individuals
6. Explicitly consider difference in gender and culture
7. Facilitate intersectoral co-operation
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Role of HE/P in HC
Maximize provision, utilization,
accessibility and acceptability

Immunizatio
n
Food and
Essential proper
drugs nutrition

Health
Treatment of Educatio
MCH
common n
disease and
injuries

Prevention
and control Safe and
of locally adequate
endemic water supply
disease
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Major health problems

Developing countries Developed countries

Under weight High blood pressure

unsafe sex Tobacco
UnsafeH2O,sanitation & Alcoholism
hygiene High cholesterol
Zink ,Fe, vit A deficiency High BMI
Indoor smoke from solid Low fruit & vegetable
fuels intake
High blood pressure Physical inactivity
Tobacco Illicit drugs etc
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Assumptions of health education /P

1. Health status can be changed
2. Disease occurrence theories and principles can be
understood
3. Appropriate prevention strategies can be developed to
deal with the identified health problems
4. An individual’s health is affected by a variety of factors
5. Change in individual and societal health behaviors and
lifestyles will affect an individual’s health status positively
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Con’t…
6. Health behavior changes occur in stages
7. Individuals, families, small groups, and communities can
be taught to assume responsible for their health, which in
turn changes their health behaviors and lifestyles
8. Individual responsibility should not be viewed as victim
blaming
9. Health behavior change is a process, not an event
10. The general value of health as a community asset has
increased and governments shall "willing" to spend more
on health care
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Characteristics of health education/P

1. Concerned with the whole person and

encompasses physical, mental, social, aspects.
2. Touches upon many fields
3. A lifelong process from birth to death, helping
people to change and adapt at all stages
4. Concerned with human at all points of health
and illness, from the completely healthy to the
clinically sick and handicapped.
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Con’t…

5. Concerned with helping people to help

themselves: voice of their own problem
6. Involves formal and informal teaching and
learning using a range of methods
7. Concerned with a range of goals
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Rationale for health E/P

1. The continued existence and spread of CDs
2. For some diseases H/E is the only practical choice?
3. The tendency of increasing magnitude of chronic
conditions/NCDs
4. Human behaviors are almost the single causes for the
development of most health conditions .
5. Wide spread of unhealthy behaviors
6. people’s ignorance of causes of their illnesses
7. Increased awareness of people on chronic health problems and
the need to know preventive actions (right to health and right to
information)
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Principles of HE/P
1. should be need-based.
2. should not become an artificial situation or formal
teaching-learning.
3. It is necessary to discuss freely on the health problems
and the solution and to ensure that all the good and bad
points, advantages and disadvantages, difficulties, etc..,
are thoroughly dealt with.
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Con’t…
6. There should be a free flow of communication.
7. The health educator has to make her/himself acceptable.
8. The health educator should not only have correct
information with her/him on all matters that she/he has to
discuss but also should her/himself practice what he
professes.
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Con’t…
9. The health educator has to adjust his talk and action to
suit the group for whom he/she has to give HE.
10. A health educator has to employ all possible methods of
education.
11. the health educator should as far as possible make
every effort to reason out and rationalize, so that the client
is able to internalize the relevant ideas.
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Con’t…
12. A well planned program is necessary.
13. The use of audio-Visual aids for support and
reinforcement is of particular significance in HE
14. HE should be specific and relevant to the problems and
the available solution.
15. find out the existing behavioral patterns and their basis.
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Con’t…
16. There is always some perception or belief, etc… which
should be studied first before HE can be started.
17. The process of education should be done step by step
and with due attention to the different principles of
communication.
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Con’t…
18. HE should be able to provide an opportunity
for the client or clients to go through the stages of
identification of problems, planning,
implementation evaluation and so on.
19. The health educator should use terms which
can be understood.
20. HE should start from the existing culture and
gradually try at change of habit and practices.
Moreover, the HE effort should aim at small
changes in a graded fashion and not be too
ambitious.
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Principle….summary
Principle of educational Dx
Principle of Participation
Principle of multiple methods
Principle of planning and organizing
Facts: H/E should be based on scientific findings/facts
and current knowledge
Cultural acceptance
Need based
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Approaches to health education

1. Persuasive approach
attempt to influence the other persons to do what we want them

to do
Eg?

2. Empowerment approach
giving people information, problem solving and decision

making skills to make decisions but leaving the actual choice to

the people.
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Health education in the level of disease prevention

1. Primary health education

Is comprised of those preventive measures that
forestall the onset of illness or injury during the pre-
pathogenesis period (before the disease process
begins),
e.g.
 Wearing safety belt, face mask
 Immunization
 Physical exercise
 Breast feeding
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H/E in level of diseases prevention…

2. Secondary health education
aimed at promoting early diagnosis and prompt
treatment of a disease to cure or to limit disability and
prevent more serious pathogenesis
e.g.
 Counselling on ART adherence and provision of ART for PLWHA
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H/E in level of diseases prevention…

3. Tertiary health education
work to retain, reeducate, and rehabilitate the
individual who has already incurred disability,
impairment, or dependency,
Social and psychological adjustment
e.g.
Wheelchair provision after paralysis by polio
Palliative care for terminally ill patients
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Thank you!
“The deviation of man from the state in which he was
originally placed seems to have proved to him a prolific
source of diseases.”
Edward Jenner