Health Education for Awareness and Behavioral Change and Influence

Abstract

Health literacy, health promotion, ecosystem approach to health, education for sustainability, social mobilization Definition Health education comprises all experiences that can inspire changes in behavior leading to improved health and well-being and also improves health literacy, ultimately leading to a more conscious, empowered and mobilized society (adapted from Nutbeam, 2000). Health, as recognized by the World Health Organization, is "…a state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" and well-being is a state of dynamic equilibrium between the physical, mental and social challenges faced by people and their capacity to cope with it (adapted from Dodge et al, 2012). Health education, health literacy and empowerment Health promotion and disease prevention have been common goals in health education programs. After almost six decades, health campaigns have moved the focus from the transmission of information based on rather simplistic assumptions related to how individuals respond to such actions, to more complex models that incorporate the social context and the development of personal skills to gain control over health and change behaviors towards health improvement (reviewed in Nutbeam, 2000).