Objectives of Health Education

Objectives of Health Education

Informing People

Dissemination of information to the people regarding prevention of disease and promotion of health. This creates awareness of health needs, problems, take away the barrier of ignorance and misconceptions about health and Disease.

Motivating People

People should be motivated to change their ill habits, way of living as many diseases can be corrected by alteration of human behaviour or changes in health practices which are detrimental to health.

Guiding into action

People should be motivated, communicated, and educated, to adopt and maintain health practices and lifestyle practices.

Health Education should be made an integral part of Education, Which will enable to change their life styles

Areas of health education

Health education is as wide as community health. Every aspect of community health has an educational component. In practice, the content of health education may be divided in to the following divisions for the sake of simplicity

1.        Human biology; The topics which may be covered include the structure and function of the body, how to keep physically fit ,the need for the exercise ,rest and sleep; the effect of alcohol, smoking and drugs on the body and first aid

2.        Nutrition; Education in nutrition holds an important place in the fight against malnutrition. They should be educated about the nutritive value of foods; storage, preparation, cooking, serving and eating of food.

3.        Hygiene; There are two aspects of hygiene –personal and environmental. both are important areas for health education. Personal hygiene includes bathing, clothing, washing hands, toilet, care of feet, nail, teeth; spitting ,coughing, sneezing ,personal appearance and inculcation of clean habits in the young. Environmental hygiene has a 2 aspects –domestic and community. Domestic hygiene comprises that of the home, use of soap and water, lighting, ventilation, food hygiene, control of rats and mice etc. In community hygiene, we teach the desirability of safe water, the benefits of drainage, good housing, town planning –in short, everything about the environment in which people live.

4.        MCH and family planning; The fears of the mother about pregnancy and childhood can be dispelled only by health education