Effective Procedures of Using Various

Methods of Health Education

Prepared by
Deepak Pandey ‘B’
MPH 2nd Semester
 Introduction
Method of health education are the technique
or ways in which series of activities are carried
out to communicate ideas, information and
develop necessary skills and attitude.
 Method of health education
1. Individual method
2. Group method
3. Mass method
 Individual method
The method where receiver of message is
single individual and health education
providers also single or in sometimes may be
more then one individual.

This method involves person to person or face

to face communication which provides
maximum opportunity of two way flows of
ideas, knowledge and information.
 Individual method contd….
There are two example of individual method
of health education
- Interview
- Counseling
 Interview
Interview is to meet and talk each other and
collect information and ideas.

Facial expression, gesture, body talk, eye

contact, personal space and other non verbal
forms should equally important as verbal
responses.
 Interview Contd…
Types of interview
There are various type of interview they are:-
Structured interview
Unstructured interview
Formal interview
Informal interview
In-depth interview
 Interview Contd…
Procedure of interview
1. Preparation for interview
 Decide the topic and objective of interview
 Collect sufficient information about the topic
 Decide the interviewee
 Develop questionnaire
 Decide place and time of interview
 Take consent by interviewee
 Organized arrangement for interview eg room
arrangement, tea or water if required, stationary
to note down
Procedure of interview contd….
2. Beginning of interview
 Establish rapport with interviewee
 State the purpose and importance of interview and
realize interviewee about the responsibility
 Ask question politely, listen carefully and maintain
eye contact
 Don’t comment during the interview
 Provide enough time for think and response
 Keep on the subject and keep control of the
interview
 Keep the interview like the healthy conversation
rather then making it question answer or quiz
session
 Avoid anything disturbing the interview
Procedure of interview contd….
3. Conclusion, suggestion and report
Discuss with interviewee to reach the
conclusion regarding the problem
Give suggestion according to need
Close interview in a friendly manner by thanks
and greeting
Make written report of the interview result
 Advantage and Disadvantage of
Advantage
interview
It helps to know individual’s knowledge,
attitude, feelings and practice in particular
subject
Exchange of ideas and feeling
Helpful to reach better conclusions of certain
problems
Easy to conduct with less cost and limited
facilities
Even illiterate persons can be interviewed and
taught
Disadvantage of interview
If proper rapport is not build and trust cannot
be achieved interview may refuse to answer
or may not give true answer
It takes more time and will be difficult to cover
wide range of target population
 Counseling
Counseling is the process of encouraging and
helping an individual in identifying problem,
exploring cause of problem and identify the
way of its solution

The decision of action strategies is made on

Clint's own choice with least of advice from
the counselor
 Procedure of Counseling
1. Rapport building
2. Identifying Clint need or problems
3. The counselor should help the Clint in finding
ways to solve the problem by encouraging in
discussion and develop problem solving
strategies based on the situation
4. Maintaining patience
5. Keep secret
6. Return follow up counseling
GATHER in Family Planning Counseling
G – Greet the Clint respectfully
A – Ask them about their family planning needs
T – Tell them about different contraceptives
options and methods
H – Help them to make decisions about choices
of methods
E – Explain and demonstrate how to use the
method
R – Return visit and follow up
 Advantage and Disadvantage of
Counseling
Advantage
 It is helpful in dealing with individual Clint and
motivate to take necessary action to solve health
problems by himself
 It maintain two way communication
 It is not required to be literate for counseling
 Clint can understand the positive and negative
point of particular subject matter
 Help to solve the complicated and serious
problems
 Disadvantage
It takes more time
It is difficult to cover wide range of people
There may be need of privacy to explore
problem
 Group Method
 Group method is the one of the method of health
education which contains homogeneous nature of
participants

 Some group methods of ealth education are:-

 Mini lecture
 Demonstration
 Discussion
- Group discussion
- Seminar
- Workshop
- Symposium
- Role play
 Mini lecture
It is a group method of health education
Health educator uses verbal explanation
about particular topic in front of participants
Health educator can use blackboard, OHP, LCD
projector and can maintain eye contact and
study non verbal response of participants
Interaction should be maintain and feedback
can be receive
 Procedure of Mini Lecture
1. Warm up phase
2. Deliberation phase
3. Discussion phase
4. Closing phase
Advantage and Disadvantage of Mini
Lecture
Advantage
Two way communication between health
educators and participants
Along with verbal explanation, health
educator can visualized the session with use of
multimedia, posters and interacts with
participants
Presentation of material in a concise and
logical form in a short time
Disadvantage
If two way communication is not
maintained interaction is minimum and
may be boring session for participants
It can be long monotonous presentation
of material by a health educator and can
create certain passiveness of the listeners
attitude
This is not suitable when skills have to
impart
 Demonstration
Demonstration is the process of providing
knowledge and skills as well as developing
attitude of a group of
Health education by demonstration involves
verbal and visual explanation
It is a mixture of theoretical and practical
teaching
If the skill have to develop among participants
demonstration is the best technique among
other methods
 Procedure of Demonstration
1. Pre demonstration stage
2. Actual demonstration stage
3. End of demonstration stage
1. Pre demonstration stage
Select topic and content of demonstration
Establish objective of demonstration
Select demonstrator
Decide time and place of demonstration
Determine target group and invite participants
for the day of demonstration if required
Sitting arrangement and stage preperation
Collect and check materials and equipments
required
Practice for competency
2. Actual demonstration stage
Rapport building
Mention purpose and objective of
demonstration
Conduct demonstration step by step as
planned. Give verbal explanation
simultaneously
Maintain eye contact and check each step by
asking questions if it is understood well before
going to the next step
Do not prolong the demonstration
Repeat at confusing points
3. End of the demonstration stage
 Ask participants to come in the stage and
perform demonstration
 Observe carefully when participants are
demonstrating
 Tell participants to observe carefully where they
do mistake
 Help each participant when they annoy during
performance of demonstration and correct if they
do mistake
 Organize discussion session
 Summarize demonstration at the end and thanks
participants
 Advantage and Disadvantage of
Demonstration
Advantage
This is only one method of health education
where skills have to impart
Theory and practical provide concrete and
realistic picture of what is being taught
resulting in a more lasting impression
Participants achievement could be
immediately assess through verbal expression
and skill practice
Disadvantage
Time consuming if target group is large
May be expensive
Not appropriate for all topics
 Role play
It is one of the group method of health
education to give a simple, single and short
message to audience through acting out
imaginary characteristics in the stage
Role play not require written script, rehearsal,
and specialized stage.
 Procedure of Role Play
1. Pre role play stage:-
Determine topic of role play
Determine appropriate time and place
Make arrangement of sitting, lighting,
ventilation
Set the stage appropriately so that audience
can see easily
Collect and manage required materials
2. Actual performance stage
Start role play as plan
3. End of the role play
Give introduction by all role players
Interact with audience about what message
they perceived
Explain message that is supposed to be
imparted with role playing
Receive feedback
Thanks for watching role play
 Advantage and Disadvantage of Role
Play
Advantage
Give learners opportunity to express their ideas
based on real life situation and can learn from
each other.

 Enables the learners to see things through the

eyes of others. Start learning how knowledge
and attitude affect health behavior.
Disadvantage
It may lead to only a recreational activity not
educational.

 Everybody can not successfully act due to

shyness , lack of experience , lack of confidence
and expression skills.

 Every learner may not get opportunity to

participate as role player.
 Group Discussion
A group is an aggregation of people interacting in a
face to face situation. It is a two way
communication where people learn by exchanging
their views and experiences. This method is useful
when the group have common interest and similar
problems

Group size :An ideal group may consists of Six to

Twelve members depending upon the situation so
that each person is able to communicate with all
the others face to face to reach to a decision and
achieve the common goal.
Group Discussion contd….
Members of group discussion are:
1. Leader or chairperson
2. Recorder
3. General members
Advantage and Disadvantage of group
discussion
Advantage
Develops creativity, confidence and ability of
judgment in the members or learners.
 Helps learners to come to a group decision
and solve their common problem. Group
decision is better than individual decision.
Helps members to become active learners
and learn new knowledge, ideas and
experiences about their subject of concern
through a cooperative process.
Disadvantage
Some self-conscious members may not
venture to bring forth their valid idea "for fear
of disapproval by other members”.
Sometimes discussion may be prolonged
without any fruitful result, or it may take
longer time to come to the conclusion or
decision.
Somebody may not feel personally
responsible for the result of discussion. So,
they may not participate well.
 Panel Discussion

Panel discussion is one of the methods of group

teaching.
The panel members will be a group of experts normally 3
or 4 persons who themselves enter into question and
answer process regarding a specific topic of discussion.
The health educator can manage to identify and bring
the experts. He can work as a coordinator to introduce
topic and the experts, and also help conduct the
discussion.
Advantages and Disadvantage of Panel
Discussion
Advantage
Provides varied knowledge, ideas and
experiences about the subject of concern to the
learners.
Interesting and can draw attention of the
audience or learners.
Learners get opportunity to ask questions and
pass comments, which help, in teaching-learning
process.
Disadvantage
Sometimes it is difficult to get the appropriate
experts.

 Difficult to set definite time to suit the experts.

Symposium
A symposium is a series of speeches on a selected
subject. Each person or expert present an aspect of
the subject briefly.
 In symposium, there is no discussion among the
members but in the end, the audience may raise
questions.
 The chairman makes a comprehensive summary at
the end of the entire session.
Advantage and Disadvantage of Symposium
Advantage
It is interesting and draws attention.
Speakers can develop the techniques of finding
information as well as the techniques of
presentation.
participants get opportunity to learn from
concerned experts and get up-to-date
knowledge.
Develops the habit of listening and critical
thinking.
Disadvantages
 Difficult to get the appropriate experts.
May be time consuming.
Difficult to adjust time at the convenience of
the experts.
 Workshop
To work and to learn from practical experience is the
theme of workshop.
 It consists of a series of meeting with emphasis on
individual work within a group with the help of
consultants and resource personnel.
The total workshop may be divided in to small group
and each group will choose a chairman and recorder.
Advantage and Disadvantage of Workshop
Advantage

Helps to provide up-to-date knowledge and

skills as well as to develop appropriate
attitude.

Provide varied learning experiences like

listening, speaking, discussion etc.

Enhances participant’s power of thinking and

critical learning.
Disadvantage
Take long time to organize the workshop. It
might take weeks or even months.
 Needs more money, materials and physical
facilities.
Sometimes it may be difficult to get
appropriate consultant.
 Seminar
In seminar, several expertise from different
discipline meet to deliberate on particular field.
The members or participants of the seminar
come together to exchange views on current
problems or to share with others their own
problems, experiences and new encounter
experiments.
 Mass Method
Large number of heterogeneous group of
people are participants of mass method of
health education

There is no two way communication in mass

method of health education

Health education methods which covers

diverse audience at a time
Examples of mass methods are:-
1. Lecture
2. Exhibition
Exhibition
It is systematic and meaningful display of
educational materials with an intention to educate
large number of people within a limited period of
time and at a particular place.
Exhibition can sometimes be organized to provide
health education to the community people.
Exhibition contd….
Exhibition consists of the use of different
teaching materials and methods to illustrate
and explain the points of teaching. They are
posters, charts, video player etc

A good exhibition can be a very effective

media for health education since it display
material covering various aspect of health.
 Advantages
 Provides better learning through varieties of
experiences like hearing, seeing, touching, feeling
and tasting.
 Opportunity may be provided for practical learning
through demonstration, manipulation of objects and
through practice.
 Interesting and attractive because of decorations,
good setting, and other lively displays.
 Helps students to develop creativity.
 Organizing exhibition can also help learn some new
knowledge and skills.
Disadvantages
 Difficult to organize in terms of money,
materials and manpower.

 Difficult to organize to suit different kinds

of people with different needs, background,
interest ,etc.

 Difficult to get appropriate place and adjust

to the available time due to lack of
resources, unfavorable weather, etc
Bibliography

• http://pmofpublichealth.blogspot.com/2012/05/health-
education-method.html
• https://www.slideshare.net/ethan1hunt/methods-of-health-
education
• https://www.slideshare.net/msanjel1/method-and-media-
health-education
• Textbook of health education, Dahal A., Second edition,
Makalu Publication