Effective Health Education Defining Health Education

Effective Health Education

Defining Health Education

he formulation of a concrete, comprehensive definition of health education and its multi-faceted variances has been noted as a problematic area for educators. Nevertheless, a number of models have been proposed throughout the years, including Hornsey’s 1982 fourfold framework which lists the major role of health education as encompassing four separate components

medical components;

educational components;

developmental components; and

socio-political components

In this framework, the medical component of health education involves the dissemination of medical information and preventative measures in the context of health and well-being. The educational component of health education includes various participatory methods, including discussion, group interaction and group support. Likewise, the developmental component focuses on the development of skills that enable citizens to look after themselves while the socio-political component examines the various social-economic and political determinants of health such as social demographics, behavioral change and availability of resources and materials. Regardless of the model used, effective health education requires the integration and utilization of a wide range of factors. 

Designing Health Education

Research has demonstrated that effective health education design begins with the identification of various important psychosocial determinants that govern health behavior in individuals and populations. These behavior models can range from the theory of planned behavior – which equates behavioral intentions, social norms, and perceived behavioral controls with predictions in a subject’s behavior – to the social cognitive theory – which suggests that people learn by watching other people’s actions

One means of designing effective health education is the modification of materials using an understanding of these psychosocial principles, thereby providing the best conditions for which a student can learn. Indeed, one study done by Whittingham et al. in 2007 demonstrated that certain cognitive psychological theories could be adapted for improving knowledge transfer and comprehension; their modified materials regarding alcohol abuse resulted in significantly higher knowledge uptake by the study participants, as compared to those participants using the non-modified materials.(5) Some of the principles they used could be readily adapted for other workers involved in the generation of health education materials, including:

Text coherence – designing information in such a way that information logically follows from one passage to the next, as well as from one topic to the next;

Illustrations – presenting information in a visual manner has been shown to increase comprehension and recall;

Pop-out effects – drawing attention to specific information by displaying the important information differently than the rest of the text, i.e., through the use of color, shapes, font, size, etc.

Used in conjunction, these techniques noticeably improve the efficacy of health education materials.

It is vital to recognize that the best material for content uptake varies widely between readers. In other words, learning about the target demographic and customizing the presentation of information to best suit this demographic is a crucial step towards effective health education; generic information may greatly benefit one group, but do little to nothing for another group. A 1999 study by Kreuter et al. provided proof for this principle. In it, tailored messages created by clinicians, behavioral scientists and weight loss experts crafted specific weight loss messages to address individual differences among the study participants; compared to the non-tailored generic weight-loss brochures, the tailored information was not only seen as having a significantly greater attractiveness in general, but also yielded more positive self-assessment thoughts, positive behavioral intentions and greater long-term behavioral changes.

Furthermore, efforts should be made to work with local organizations and local community members. These local partnerships have been shown to facilitate overall communication, minimize logistical issues, and legitimize the educational efforts. The empowering of local people with knowledge beyond the span of the educational program is vital as well.

Lastly, attention must be given to the cultural contexts of the target demographic. An example stems from Thailand in the early 1990s, where Peace Corps volunteers attempted to educate villagers about the importance of condoms in the reduction and prevention of HIV/AIDs transmission. “In the old days volunteers used bananas in the demonstration but switched to wooden replicas when they discovered that some participants went home and actually put condoms on bananas thinking it had some sort of power to keep them safe.”

In Papua New Guinea, however, researchers used both wooden replicas and bananas in their condom demonstrations. In this situation, the researched concluded that: “We found that bananas worked better than wooden penis models, because the women were less embarrassed handling them.” This startling difference in situation between health workers and villagers draws attention to the necessity of health educators to thoroughly examine the people, culture, methods, materials and society that they wish to impact.