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Health Education Approach
Some problems can be exclusively solved only through health education approach:
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Cessation of Smoking
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Fertility Control
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Use of Safe Water Supply
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Example:
In Liberia, Government launched a programme for drilling of wells to make available fresh drinking water.
However, many people preferred to use muddy polluted water, perceiving clean water as “TOO THIN”.
This situation could have been avoided if well drilling program had an inbuilt component of health education.
Health Education – What it Requires?
Educating people through planned learning experiences.
Features:
- Approach is consistent with democratic philosophy which doesn't order the individual.
- Results are slow, but enduring.
The Mass Media and Social Organisations must be mobilized to help introduce new attitudes and new habits without conflicting with the masses and the collective reaction to particular change.
On whom to Focus
Since attitudes and behavioral patterns are formed early in life, we must move back in time and start health education with young people
Example: North Karelia had the highest mortality from heart disease throughout the world 20 years ago.
But these values have slashed to half due to education of YOUTH regarding change of diet and persuading smokers to quit smoking
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Participants