Health education may be defined as the sum total of all influences that collectively determine knowledge, belief, and behavior related to the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of health in individuals and communities. These influences comprise formal and informal education in the family, in the school, and in the society at large, as well as in special content of health service activities. Health Promotion therefore is basically a term used to increasingly draw attention to the need for both educational and political action to influence health

1. PUBLIC HEALTH IN
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
(OT 201)
Lecturer: Sir OAK

2. LECTURE THREE
 Health education and health promotion
Learning objective:
Upon completion of this topic; students should be able to:
• define and state the objectives of health promotion and health
education
• mention the models of health education and health promotion.

3. HEALTH EDUCATION AND HEALTH PROMOTION
Health Education – definitions
• Health education may be defined as the sum total of all
influences that collectively determine knowledge, belief and
behaviour related to the promotion, maintenance and
restoration of health in individuals and communities.
• These influences comprise formal and informal education in
the family, in the school and in the society at large, as well as
in special content of health service activities.

4. • Health education is communication activity aimed at enhancing
positive health and preventing or diminishing ill health in
individuals and groups through influencing the beliefs, attitudes
and behaviour of those with power and of the community at large.
• Health education can be described as any combination of learning
experiences designed to facilitate voluntary actions conducive to
health.

5. Health promotion
• According to the WHO Charter for Health Promotion “it is a
systematic means of making it possible for people to have control
over their own health and take positive action to increasingly
improve upon their health”.
• Health Promotion therefore is basically a term used to
increasingly draw attention to the need for both educational and
political action to influence health.

6. NB: Health education therefore is an integral part of Health
promotion
Students should identify the
link between Health education
and Health promotion.

7. SOME MODELS OF HEALTH EDUCATION AND
HEALTH PROMOTION
These models are:
1.Preventive model
2.Radical-political model
3.Self-empowerment model
4.Health Belief Model

8. 1.Preventive model
• Students should recall the levels of prevention
• The purpose of this model is to persuade you to take
responsible decisions which will help you prevent diseases at a
primary, secondary or tertiary level.
• This model has an additional purpose of encouraging you to
properly make use of the available health services to prevent
diseases at all levels.

9. 2. radical – political model
• This model requires you to get to the roots of the problem.
• Here, your attention is directed to how you can change the
community socially and environmentally through a political
action.
• Its purpose is geared towards effecting only changes in
unfavourable policies and ideologies.

10. 3. Self-Empowerment Model (SEM)
• With this model, you have the responsibility of encouraging or
helping individuals and communities to make informed choices.
This implies that you steer the people along the line which makes
them want to make a healthier choice.
• You have to provide individuals and communities with the
necessary information that will help them develop skills.

11. Cont…
• Helping someone to make an informed choice means that, you
are providing all the information (advantages / disadvantages)
about a particular issue or problem and the benefits of any
probable options that may arise from that information sharing.
• This model prevents the educator from acting as the ‘expert’
whilst the community members are seen as ‘lay people’.

12. 4. Health Belief Model
• The Health Belief Model (HBM) was developed as one of the
first social-cognitive models in the 1960’s in order to explain
health behavior
• Basic construct in the HBM that determine health behavior
are:
 perceived susceptibility,
 perceived severity,
 perceived barrier,

13.  perceived benefit,
 Perceived efficacy and
 Cues to action
 Perceived susceptibility (an individual’s assessment of their
risk of getting a condition): examples
• I am not a painter, I don’t need to protect my self against
fall.
• I am not promiscuous, I don’t need to test for HIV.

14.  Perceived severity (an individual’s assessment of the
seriousness of the condition, and its potential consequences).
Example: A cold isn’t a big deal, why make my white hankie
nasty.
 Perceived barriers (an individual's assessment of the influences
that facilitate or discourage adoption of the promoted
behaviour). Example: people may think I am promiscuous if I
go for HIV test.

15.  Perceived benefits (an individual’s assessment of the
positive consequences of the adopting the behaviour).
Example: I want to remain healthy, can condom use prevent
STIs? I will love that.
 Perceived efficacy (an individual’s self-assessment of
ability to successfully adopt the desired behavior).
Example: I am capable of doing things on my own.
 Cues to action (external influences promoting the desired
behavior) Example: This “Be bold, get tested advert on TV
is boring me, I will go for it.

16. OBJECTIVES OF HEALTH PROMOTION
The objectives of the health promotion strategy are, to:
1. place prevention on the agenda of policy makers;
2. create awareness on specific issues related to occupational
therapy;
3. increase knowledge on rehabilitation;

17. 4. effect positive behaviour change among community members on
their ADL;
5. develop mechanisms to involve target groups, communities in
human occupation problems in Ghana;
6. work with community members to develop and disseminate
occupational therapy messages.

18. Thank you