A Proposal for Health Education for White People
- Health education – a set of different activities.
- Methods: discussions, lectures, online education, exhibitions.
- The study of hygiene in child-rearing.
- Health education – the formation of a lifestyle.
- Understanding the needs of the target group.
Health education is a set of educational, upbringing, agitation, and propaganda activities aimed at shaping a healthy lifestyle, disease prevention, preservation and enhancement of health, and increasing people’s ability to work (Sharma, 2016). Methods that can be used for family-oriented health promotion are:
- Group interviews and discussions.
- Lectures.
- Question and answer evenings.
- Online education.
- Exhibitions and health corners.
When educating children, it is also necessary to emphasize all hygiene sections: personal, social, nutritional, and others. Health education forms a person’s knowledge, health attitudes, and way of life (Park & Zuniga, 2016). Developing a healthy lifestyle is also the responsibility of social work professionals. In doing so, they can use the same methods and means of health education as medical workers. There is a need for close contact between medical workers, social work specialists, and the staff of sanitary-educational institutions, combining their joint efforts to form a high sanitary culture of citizens’ population and conscious hygienic behavior. When interacting with the people, both families and individuals, the medical worker must consider clients’ requests, needs, and requirements.
A Proposal for Health Education for African Americans
- Health education – the responsibility of all medics.
- Differentiating health services by the target audience.
- Consider the requests of the people.
- African Americans – the least healthy ethnic group.
- Expansion of preventive work among the population.
Health education is the duty of all health workers; it must be systematic and organized, corresponding to the current state of the science. Health education must be differentiated methodologically, depending on the target audience. This education should consider the needs of the people, identify problems, and find appropriate solutions. In the United States, African Americans are the least healthy ethnic group; in today’s context, the African American population must become an equal and full partner and active participant in the health care and prevention process (Noonan et al., 2016). Health policy development is most often the responsibility of those with no experience in health care. The African American population is underrepresented in this area. To address this issue, one of the critical sections is the expansion of prevention work among the people, an integral part of which is health education focused on the minimization and elimination of risk factors that negatively affect health.
- Introduction of medico-social programs into practice.
- Support the necessary conditions for health education.
- Rely on a preventive orientation.
- The prevention level – the quality of life.
- Knowledge of African American culture by medics.
To increase education for this target group, medical and social programs can be introduced: child nutrition, family and reproductive-age women’s health, tuberculosis prevention, combating smoking and tobacco use, educational programs for midwives, and others. A mandatory component is the organization and support of legislative, organizational, personnel, material and technical, information and analytical and psychological and pedagogical support for effective health education within the local healthcare system. Implementing such an approach will improve the organization of health education to identify the informational needs and demands of the target group and ensure constant monitoring of the quality of the development of measures. The goal of every health worker in their work is to rely on a preventive orientation to provide a high level of health. Without health professionals who know the culture of African American communities, the future of health policy development is murky.
References
Noonan, A. S., Velasco-Mondragon, H. E., & Wagner, F. A. (2016). Improving the health of African Americans in the USA: an overdue opportunity for social justice. Public health reviews, 37(1), 1-20. Web.
Park, J., & Zuniga, J. (2016). Effectiveness of using picture-based health education for people with low health literacy: An integrative review. Cogent Medicine, 3(1), 1264679. Web.
Sharma, M. (2016). Theoretical foundations of health education and health promotion. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.