October is Health Literacy Month. Read on to learn about health education as an important strategy for improving health literacy.
What is Health Education?
Health education creates awareness among the general public and healthcare workers about common health issues. Its primary goals are to educate the target population about health benefits and positively influence the health behavior, knowledge, attitudes, and skills of individuals and communities. It enables individuals in society to prevent common and life-threatening diseases and to enjoy life to the fullest.
Types of Health
WHO defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not the mere absence of disease or infirmity.”
Aims of Health Education
There is a ripple effect beyond improving health literacy and promoting health outcomes for one person. Others may benefit and learn from one person’s improvement in health. Some of the aims of health education are:
- To encourage positive influences and voluntary behavioral changes by providing appropriate knowledge.
- To address the attitudes, skills and actions that can enhance one’s wellness.
- To help people make decisions about their health and acquire the confidence and skills to put their findings into practice.
Why is it important?
Some important reasons that social, physical, and mental health must all be covered in the curriculum in all schools and institutions are given below:
- It enables kids to understand the dangers of smoking, drinking alcohol, and using illegal drugs.
- It imparts knowledge and abilities, and boosts the self-confidence to improve learners’ outlook on life.
- It creates awareness about the prevention and treatment of death, illness and injuries.
- It improves the quality of life for all people.
- By focusing on prevention, it reduces the costs that individuals, employers, families, insurance companies, communities, medical facilities, and government spend on medical treatment.
Who is responsible?
Everyone involved in health and community development activities can participate in promoting health. The health professional as educator is primarily responsible for working with families and local community at a grass root level to improve health and avoid disease through the provision of education. Medicine alone cannot cure health problems.
Conclusion
Health education provides awareness and knowledge to individuals of every community about how to make their lives healthier and stress-free. It aims to improve every individual’s emotional, social, and mental well-being, and benefits the family, society, and the world as a whole.
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Dr. Talha Malik is an MBBS student in Pakistan.
References:
Open Education Portal: https://www.openeducationportal.com/importance-of-health-education/
Rural Health Information Hub: https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/health-promotion/2/strategies/health-education
World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution
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