What Is Health Education All About?
Achieving the nation’s health objectives, Healthy People 2010 will depend on many factors. It will require a strong system of assessment and surveillance of public health problems. It will depend on increased capacity and infrastructure for public health. It will also require the delivery of well developed health promotion and disease prevention interventions. Lifestyle and behavior changes are key factors for addressing many of the health problems facing the citizens of South Carolina. Interventions should be uniquely tailored to address the circumstances of a given population, person, and situation. Prevention makes good economic sense, paying returns in improved health and reduced health care costs. Health educators encourage and help devise individual, group, institutional, community, and systemic strategies to improve health knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behavior among the population at large. Special competencies are required to deliver quality health education interventions.
