Health Education: An Essential Part of Public Health and Health

Given the increasing complexity of our public health and health care systems, the public health profession has a more important role to play than ever in helping consumers / patients achieve and maintain optimal health. At the population level, public health professionals are at the forefront of research and education, forging multi-disciplinary alliances as never before. As a result, graduate degrees in public health are proliferating nationally. The need for health education in community and clinical health environments is great, and growing. This includes education about personal and community health issues; strategies to reduce risk and improve health; specific resources and tools to help consumers to take appropriate pro-health actions; and support systems (access, financial assistance, health information resources, etc.) to sustain such actions. The goals of health education are two-fold: to provide information to enhance consumer or patient knowledge; and to help effect positive and long-term change in health behaviors. This article provides a brief background of health education and health promotion, including an overview of its leading professional organization, the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE); and explores the unique and critical role of the health educator in helping individuals internalize positive behavior-change, the ultimate goal of public health education. Health education was first defined in the 1940s as “...requiring careful and thorough consideration of present knowledge, attitudes, goals, perceptions, social status, power structure, cultural traditions, and other aspects of whatever public is to be addressed.”