Page 29 - strategy of health education

Introduction:

Health education, as a social science, draws from the biological,

environmental, psychological, physical and medical sciences to promote health

and prevent disease, disability and premature death through education-driven

voluntary behaviour change activities by applying certain competencies.

Health education responsibilities and core competencies:

Evidence-based health education interventions are those that are most

likely to be based on theory and have been shown through empirical study to be

effective. The use of theory-based interventions, evaluated through appropriate

designs, contributes to the understanding of why interventions do or do not

“work” under particular conditions. Increasingly, health education

professionals are using a concept born out of the continuous quality

improvement discipline called “best practices or competency”.

Concept of competency:

Competency is a possession of sufficient knowledge or skill within the

legal authority of a profession.

Competencies are not skills, although they are similar. Skills are learned,

while competencies are inherent qualities an individual possesses – combining

skills, knowledge, and ability.

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