Health education involves passing on health messages to influence behaviors, attitudes, and practices. It aims to create awareness of health issues and services. Health promotion builds community capacity for self-care. Effective health education uses various methods like radio, drama, posters and engages the community. It should be interesting, involve participation, ensure comprehension, provide reinforcement, and motivate behavior change by addressing felt needs and using known concepts.

1. HEALTH EDUCATION
Presented by: Rabia Javed Iqbal

2. HEALTH EDUCATION IS THE PROCESS OF
PASSING ON HEALTH MESSAGES WITH THE AIM
OF INFLUENCING PEOPLES’ BEHAVIOURS,
ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES.
HEALTH PROMOTION IS THE EFFORT BY
THE GOVERNMENT OR OTHER SERVICE
PROVIDERS TO BUILD CAPACITY OF THE
COMMUNITY TO TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR
HEALTH.

3. EXAMPLES OF HEALTH EDUCATION AND
HEALTH PROMOTION
HEALTH EDUCATION
Radio programs
Drama shows
Film show
Person to person
Posters, books & magazines(IEC materials)
Mobile audio systems/P.A system
T.V
Newspapers

4. HEALTH PROMOTION
Home improvement campaigns
Selection and training VHT’S
Family health days
Home visiting programmes
Health counselling
Provision of safe water sources

5. Group Work
Assess the advantages and
disadvantages of different
methods of health education in
terms of average,
cost/affordability, accessibility,
clarity, feedback.

6. IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH
EDUCATION
To create awareness on health issues.
To prevent disease occurrence in the
community.
To make community aware of the available
health services.
To make health workers aware of the health
needs and health problems of the community.
It builds skills of the community/individuals
to manage their health problems.

7. Principles of Health
Education
These are the building blocks or pillars of H/E.
They include;
oInterest
oParticipation; learning by doing.
oComprehension
oReinforcement
oMotivation
Known to Unknown (Surbhi 2011)

8. INTEREST
People do not listen to those things which are not of
their interest.
People are not interested in health slogans such as
“Take Care Of Your Health”, “Be Healthy”, “Be
Clean”, etc.
Therefore Health Educators must find out the real
needs of the people.
Health Educators must identify the felt needs of the
people & should be able to address them.
Where the need/demand is not felt, the Health
Educator should create it.

9. PARTICIPATION
•Participation is based on the psychological principle
that group learning, group discussion provide
opportunities for active learning.
•Health Education must involve social participation
where people are active participants rather than
active listeners or spectators.
•Learning is an action process, not a “memorizing “
one in the narrow sense. “If I hear, I forget, if I see,
I remember, if I do, I know”, so health habits should
be cultivated in practice.

10. COMPREHENSION
•In health, one must know
the level of understanding of
the targeted people.
•Thus, the teaching must be
within the mental capacity of
the target group.

11. REINFORCEMENT
Few people can learn and adopt new ideas for the first
time.
Repetition at intervals is extremely useful. It assists
comprehension and understanding. Therefore, health
instruction needs reinforcement(repetitive support and
inducement).

12. MOTIVATION
 In every person, there is a fundamental desire to learn.
 Awakening of this desire is called motivation. There are two
types of motives; primary & secondary.
 Primary motives are; sex, hunger, survival, which initiate
people into action. These motives are inborn desires.
 Secondary motives are based on desires created by the
outside forces or incentive. These include; praise, love,
rivalry, rewards, punishment & recognition.
 In Health Education, motivation is an imperfect factor. The
incentives may be positive or negative, but the positive must
be emphasized against the negative.

13. KNOWN TO UNKNOWN
 For imparting Health Education, one should proceed
from the known to the unknown.
 One should start from where people are i.e. with what
they understand, then proceed with new knowledge.
 The existing knowledge of the people should be used as
pegs on which to hang new knowledge.

14. Seven key roles of Health
Educators
 Implement Health Education strategies, interventions
and programmes.
 Communicate and advocate for health & Health
Education.
 Conduct evaluation and research related Health
Education.
 Serve as a Health Education resource person.
 Assess individual and community needs for Health
Education.
 Plan Health Education strategies, interventions and
programs.