The Importance Of Health Education
Health education should not only focus on young people. It is very important for everyone!
Health education is a fundamental pillar of general wellbeing in every country and society. Its purpose is to impart certain knowledge and habits to the population that enable each individual to make good decisions about his or her health.
While many think that health is just the absence of disease, the truth is that this concept includes many other aspects as well. We must view health as a state of personal and social well-being.
It is also very important to take into account that good health can only be achieved through the responsibility of each and every person. It’s not just about adopting healthy habits to protect yourself, but also about positively influencing others through your own behavior.
In today’s article, we will explain the importance of health education and also mention various measures and suggestions in this context.
How is health education defined?
In recent years, health education has become more widely used and seen as fundamental in general education in school, but also in society. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health education as follows:
The authors view these findings as a process that enables everyone to learn how to promote, maintain or regain their health through their behavior. So it’s about learning specific attitudes and habits in order to stay healthy.
However, this process continues. The Health Education aims to ensure that every person acquires critical skills to be able to make in this context, even decisions that allow him to care for his own health and that of his fellow men.
These educational measures also help to analyze various influencing factors that affect a population. For example, it can be examined how environmental, social or financial aspects affect health and which medical problems arise as a result.
How is health education implemented in practice?
There are several ways to spread knowledge about health. A distinction is made between direct and bidirectional methods in which the roles of the educator and the listener are precisely defined.
The direct method requires a certain closeness between educator and participant. This is possible, for example, in a school class where the teacher imparts the knowledge, or in a discussion group.
In addition, lectures and dialogues on health topics are very important. A clear example of this is the dialogue with the doctor in the doctor’s office, in which the doctor gives the patient various recommendations.
On the other hand, indirect methods, also known as unidirectional, are very important. One person provides information that can reach a broad section of the population, for example via modern communication media or television.
Audiovisual and other media can serve well in health education. Informative brochures, posters, newspapers and magazines are also very important. Information can also be transmitted in cinemas.
The importance of the internet
The importance of the Internet should be emphasized in particular: It plays an essential role in modern health education and is the most important source of information. The problem is that there are also a lot of fake news, half-truths and lies.
Knowing how to best use this tool is therefore important in order to find trustworthy sources that support other educational activities in the health sector. There are more and more applications and programs that are very helpful and make it easy for users to adopt healthy habits.
Finally, we would like to point out that health education is not only very important for young people. The whole population must participate and benefit from it. It is never too late to adopt a healthy lifestyle and take responsibility for your own health and that of everyone around you.
