College of Public Health

University of the Philippines- Manila

Regrine B. Lagarteja, RMT, MT(ASCP
i
)
CM
Student No.: 2013-88648

Health Education Opportunities in a Healthcare Setting
PHPE 210
Health Education Opportunities in a Healthcare Setting

A hospital or a clinic is considered at the epitome of the pyramid when it comes to
healthcare. It is the tertiary level. Most people go here because they are ill and cannot
find treatment on primary healthcare facility. Even though they are already burdened
with disease, they should be given proper health education in order to prevent other
diseases from happening or prevent the person to have the same disease again.

Since in our country, most of the people go directly to these tertiary care facilities rather
than the primary care facilities, we need to constantly inform them of the importance of
primary care through health education. It is so hard to do a health promotion program
unlike the ones that we do in the community. Even so, we should not neglect this fact,
and use this behavior in order for the people to receive our message across.

In the United States, upon the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), they have
reformed the system into making Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). It has the
responsibility of care coordination for the patient across all members of the health care
team, which, in best practice, would be located under one roof. Many chronic diseases,
such as HIV care, have been moving toward this concept for some time. Some of the
principles of PCMH are:

1. Whole person orientation including care for all stages of life and illness including
preventative services.

2. Coordinated/integrated care so a person receives what they need where they need it
in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. This includes better access to care
and improved communications both with the patient and among the providers through
use of information technologies.

3. Care in which patients actively participate in decision-making and feedback is sought
to assure patient expectations are being met.

4. Appropriate reimbursement recognizing the added value of non-physician staff who
help coordinate care and improve communications as well as incentivize the
achievement of measurable and continuous quality improvements.

In order to form a comprehensive health care system and improve health outcomes,
they have focused in the process of treating the whole person. Because the new
reimbursement and care system is geared toward rewarding health outcomes rather
than services rendered, the health staff (doctors, nurses, allied health professionals),
should possess skills that promote working in interdisciplinary teams, care coordination,
quality improvement for strategic planning and systems redesign, community
engagement, community needs assessment, and health coaching






Here is a model of PCMH:



College of Public Health
University of the Philippines- Manila
Regrine B. Lagarteja, RMT, MT(ASCP
i
)
CM
Student No.: 2013-88648

Health Education Opportunities in a Healthcare Setting
PHPE 210



The health professional should post health messages on their area of work where a lot
of people can see it. For doctors, they can post it outside their clinics, or inside the
consultation area wherein they can freely ask for questions as they read the
infographics. Aside from posters, they should also convince the patient to shift to
healthy habits and carefully explain why they should alter their behavior.

In order to cross the bridge between the patient and the health professional should
possess skills such as providing self- management support coaching, serving as a
bridge to other health care and community resources, helping patients adopt and
maintain healthy behaviors, helping families build social and physical environments that
support behavior change, assisting patients in navigating the health care system,
providing emotional support and providing assistance with practice-level quality. They
should apply theories and models of behavior change to improve the health behaviors
of individuals and groups. Health education specialists can assist with connecting the
clinicians with information and educational resources to meet the challenges patients
and their families face in terms of health literacy. And most importantly, they should be
a role model for a health advocacy that they are promoting.

Another strategy that I saw in Marikina is putting a HealthZone, which is an interactive
museum wherein they can learn while having fun. This would put consciousness
towards the patient and also the visitors in the healthcare facility.

The following are the merits for promoting awareness and properly educating people in
a healthcare setting:
Health education improves the health status of individuals, communities, states
and the nation. It enhances the quality of life for all people and reduces costly
premature deaths and disability. By focusing on prevention, health education
reduces the costs (both financial and human) spent on medical treatment.



College of Public Health
University of the Philippines- Manila
Regrine B. Lagarteja, RMT, MT(ASCP
i
)
CM
Student No.: 2013-88648

Health Education Opportunities in a Healthcare Setting
PHPE 210
Chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, consume more
than 75 percent of the $2.2 trillion spent on health care in the United States each
year. This is the equivalent of about 2.5 economic bailout packages. Spending
as little as $10 per person on proven preventive interventions could save the
country over $16 billion in just five years. (Society for Public Health Education,
2010)
Health education specialists offer knowledge, skills and training that complement
those of health care providers, policy makers, educational experts, human
resource personnel and many other professionals whose work impacts human
health. Addressing a single risk factor (e.g. smoking) influences outcomes
across multiple diseases, from preterm birth to lung disease and cancer.
Addressing obesity in today's children alters the prevalence of many diseases
(e.g. heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis) that may be encountered decades
later.