Community & Health Education

Health education is a social science that draws from the biological, environmental, psychological, physical and medical sciences to promote health and prevent disease, disability and premature death through education-driven voluntary behavior change activities.

Defining Health Promotion

Health promotion is complex and is made up of many varied activities aimed at preventing disease, impairment, disability, and handicap, and promoting positive health. It includes:

• Creating a safe environment in which to live and work, through the introduction of legislation and policies, e.g. health and safety at work, environmental health policies. These result in safe water supplies, safe sewage disposal, food hygiene, safe equipment and machinery.
• Healthy Public Policies provide protection against ill health by banning certain products, e.g. smoking in the workplace and some public places, wearing crash helmets and seat belts, or by making healthy choices easier, e.g. by taxing certain products, such as alcohol and cigarettes, and better food labelling.
• Community involvement encouraging and supporting communities to identity their health needs and take responsibility for their health by making healthy choices.
• Health Education involves developing personal skills by raising awareness of health risks and positive health choices, providing information for individuals to make informed decisions, acquiring new skills, and developing positive attitudes and beliefs about health.
• Re-focusing Health Services to prevent ill health, in addition to cure and care, screening for disease, immunisation, and identification of risks, e.g. coronary heart disease.

Levels of Health Promotion

Three levels of prevention are:

• Primary Prevention: aimed at healthy people to prevent ill health from happening and improving the quality of healthy lifestyle choices.
• Secondary Prevention: involves detecting disease before it causes problems and becomes irreversible and can be effectively cured. it includes screening to detect a disease followed by counselling support, and advice to encourage change in behaviour or compliance with treatment.
• Tertiary Prevention: focuses on patients who have permanent disabilities or chronic diseases and helps them modify lifestyles and avoid restrictions.