Health education is an extremely broad field and it can be presented under numerous different circumstances. Practitioners can teach within secondary (or primary) educational situations, at university or informally through seminars and other social settings. Of course, encompassing the disparate fields of this sector can be quite challenging. Some of the primary areas which are addressed include physical health, social health, emotional health, environmental health and even spiritual concerns. Thus, it should be obvious that any teacher will need to boast the appropriate qualifications. These will differ from topic to topic.
Defining Health Education
In 2001, the Joint Committee on Health Education and Promotion Terminology defined health education as “any combination of planned learning experiences based on sound theories that provide individuals, groups, and communities the opportunity to acquire information and the skills needed to make quality health decisions” (1).
So, it is clear to see from this health education definition that the breadth of the topic is indeed quite large. It is still quite interesting to observe that this definition and subsequent approaches have changed over time.
Modified Approaches
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, proper health education was primarily focused upon the prevention of deadly diseases. When we consider that such epidemics such as malaria, smallpox, typhoid and polio were still rampant throughout the world, it is clear why this approach was embraced. However, advancements in medicine allowed this field to broaden its horizons substantially. By the 1970s and 1980s, the focus of health education embraced promoting awareness of certain risk factors. Also, the role of the educator was much more pronounced as opposed to presenting static information alone. Some of the main parameters which are now addressed include.