Health Education: Know the importance, methods and areas

Health education is teaching people about health. This means educating everyone about health issues and teaching them to maintain their personal health. Health here means physical health, mental health, mental health, social health, and all other types of health.

It can be defined as the principles by which individuals and groups of people learn to behave in ways that promote, maintain, or promote health.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health education as:

Intentionally structured learning opportunities, including forms of communication aimed at improving health literacy, including improving knowledge and developing life skills beneficial to individual and community health.

Importance of health education

Now that we know what health  is, we need to understand why it matters. There are many aspects that schools in different parts of the world need to consider. However, the importance of health and physical education cannot be overstated. Students should receive  education about overall health  in school for certain reasons such as:

1.Person becomes responsible and caring.

2.Preventing major causes of death, illness and disability:

Helminths, tobacco use, HIV/AIDS/STDs, physical inactivity, drugs and alcohol, violence and injuries, unhealthy diet.

3.It can make people aware of leading causes of death like injuries.

4.It helps people to maintain a healthy diet and good weight.

5.It helps in prevention of unhealthy trends.

6.Helps in reducing the usage of alcohol,drugs and tobacco.

7.It improves the quality of life.

8.Positive life and environment is created when people start living a healthy life.

Various Areas

Health education is the profession of educating people about health. 

Areas of this profession include 

1.Environmental health

2.Physical health

3.Social health

4.Emotional health

5.Mental and spiritual health

Methods to improve health education

It is very important and well known to everyone, but no one takes it so seriously that it deserves attention. People’s condition is deteriorating and they face many health problems due to lack of education about it. There are different ways to do and improve it in different areas.

Improving people’s health is important, especially in developing countries. Also, in the villages, many people died from illness because they didn’t know much about diseases and health problems. For villagers, health educators can conduct weekly seminars and webinars to help villagers learn and take care of themselves.

Health educators also run dramas, shows, etc. to educate in a very clean way.

At school it is very important that young people know and learn everything about it. 4.Knowing it at an early age can be very beneficial for young people and can help them maintain a disease-free and healthy future if proper care and precautions are taken.

In hospitals, they also tended clinics and helped educate and educate people about health .

Health education in India

Health education in India is a government mandate with the National Health Policy determining the necessary health policy in India. The Central Health and Welfare Council formulates reform policies for various medical services and health departments. The administration of the Indian healthcare industry with the technical requirements of the healthcare sector is the responsibility of the Indian Ministry of Health and Welfare. India has many schools, colleges and universities that offer health education. These institutions provide candidates with all facilities during the health education program. 

A primary goal of this education programs is to encourage students to maintain and improve their health and reduce health-related risk behaviors. With the number of people suffering from common diseases increasing year by year, health education is sorely needed. It promotes responsibility for one’s own health by addressing health issues such as nutrition, exercise, fitness, disease prevention, growth and development, environmental and social health, conflict resolution, and protection from violence. 

History 

Health and physical education was started in 1940 by Sir Joseph Bhore (Indian Civil Servant) in 1940. To this day, many camps and facilities have been established run by professionals who are experts in the system. India has a lot of multi-level infrastructure. The Central Health Education Bureau works for health educators.

Various methods and approaches

There are main methods in which health education is carried out:

1.Individual Approach

Physicians and nurses who work directly with patients and their families have many opportunities for personalized health education. The topic chosen should be contextually relevant. For example, mothers who come to give birth should be informed about the birth of their child, not about the eradication of malaria.

The greatest benefit of individualized education about health is that it can be discussed, argued, and persuaded to change individual behavior. The downside is that the numbers you get are small.

2.Group Approach

There are many groups to which it can be addressed, including mothers, school children, patients, and industrial workers. The choice of topic in population is very important. It must be directly related to the interests of the group. For example, mothers can teach about caring for babies. schoolchildren for oral hygiene; a group of tuberculosis patients for tuberculosis; a group of industrial workers for accidents.

3.Mass Approach

We use “communication mass media” such as posters, health magazines, movies, radio, television, health exhibitions and health museums to educate the public. Mass media are generally less effective in changing human behavior than individual or group methods. However, they are very useful in reaching many otherwise unreachable people. Mass media should be used in combination with other methods for effective education.

Conclusion

Despite all the government innovations, there is still a shortage of health educators in health education. In India, many people are unaware of the many health problems. This is India’s weakness. Governments need to find new ways to empower people. Many programs fail to raise awareness of diseases such as malaria and AIDS. Successful and a disease-free world require a lot of precautions, training and skills.