SERVICE APPROACH TO HEALTH EDUCATION

Health education services believes that optimal overall wellness in all aspects of life-emotional,
intellectual, social, spiritual, & physical is key to success in college & beyond.

“Health care services” means any medical or remedial care or service, including supplies
delivered in connection with the care (or) service, that is recognized under state law.

The issues of development, environment and health are closely entwined. This reflects the
complex links between the social, economic, ecological and political factors that determine
standards of living and other aspects of social well-being that influence human health. A healthy
population and safe environments are important pre-conditions for a sustainable future.

SERVICE APPROACH:

 This approach was tried by the Basic Health Services in 1960’s.

 It aimed at providing all the health services needed by the people at their door steps on
the assumption that people would use them to improve their own health.
 This approach proved failure because it was not based on the felt-needs of the people.
 For example, when water-seal latrines were provided by the government, free of cost,
many people in the rural areas did not make use of them because it was not their habit
to use latrines.

The lesson is simple- the people will not accept a programme or service, even if it is offered
free of cost, unless it is based on their felt-needs.

However, at the beginning of the 21st century, the education of many children and young
people around the world is compromised by conditions and behaviours that undermine the
physical and emotional well-being that makes learning possible. Hunger, malnutrition,
malaria, polio and intestinal infections, drug and alcohol abuse, violence and injury,
unplanned pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections are just some of
the health problems we face. As a result, education policy-makers and teachers must embrace
health promotion activities to achieve their goals. Schools must be not only centres for
academic learning, but also supportive venues for the provision of essential health education
and services.

Sustaining a healthy community is the goal of every part of the world. However, achieving
this goal requires careful planning and organizing by community members, health
organizations, academic institutions, and various government agencies.
Health promotion and disease prevention initiatives

Disease prevention has become a well-known verity for the health care profession. However,
preventive activities, as they are intangible in nature, must be carefully planned. Several
government agencies, private and public academic institutions, and even religious
organizations have been responding to the national health care crisis for decades. Health
promotion and disease prevention initiatives originated in the ’70s. While health promotion
programs (which address political, economical, and environmental factors) are a much
broader disease prevention strategy than health education, health education is the core of
these programs . Hence, health education has become an important part of the programs of all
health service organizations.