DMC College Foundation Inc.

Sta.Filomena, Dipolog City

College of Nursing

Health Education

Lecture Notes

HEALTH EDUCATION- refers to the act of providing information and learning experiences for purposes of
behavior change for health betterment of the client.
- the acquisition of knowledge through exchange of information from the teacher and
and the learner facilitates better understanding of the need for change.

THE PROCESS OF HEALTH EDUCATION

Health education consists of learning experiences that promote behavior conducive to good
health. It provides the tools for developing physical, emotional, spiritual and sound mental health.

 Physical health. These are activities or learning experiences that helps promote the ability of
the body to function effectively.
 Emotional health. Activities that enable an individual to cope with stress and strain of daily
life.
 Mental health. Measures or strategies that enable an individual to make correct judgments.
 Social health. Ways in which an individual can relate well with others regardless of status or
position.
 Spiritual health. Activities that will help an individual to accept the supernatural aspect of
divine healing.

PURPOSES OF HEALTH EDUCATION

1. A Means of Propagating Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

- concerned with how lifestyle, family history and other risk factors relate to the cause or
prevention of diseases and other health related problems.
2. May be Used to Modify or Continue Health Behaviors if Necessary
- determines strategies for health maintenance and risk reduction, identifies short and
long-term consequences of various behaviors, and demonstrates behavior strategies for
improving and maintaining personal, family and community health.
3. Provides Health information and Services
4. Emphasizes on Good Health Habits and Practices which is an Integral Aspect of Culture,
Media and Technology
- analyzes information necessary in reaching out to people in the community to facilitate
understanding and compliance with what is being taught geared towards self-reliant
behavior.
5. A Means to Communicate Vital Information to the Public
- Helps the family, peers, and others to communicate their needs, wants and feelings
effectively to enable them to resolve conflicts and problems. It also helps analyze possible
causes of conflict and in the formulation of strategies for solutions without harming
oneself or others.
6. It is also a form of Advocacy
- Means to work cooperatively with people in advocating health to individuals, families,
schools, and communities. It is the ability of the nurse to convey health messages and use
effective communication techniques, influences these clients in making positive health

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 choices, and make use of strategies to overcome barriers when discussing about
information, ideas, feelings, and opinions on health issues.

IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH EDUCATION

Health education is a system of teaching and learning process. It facilitates common

understanding among people in a social structure to modify behaviors, make decisions and change social
conditions in ways that are health enhancing. Among its many ways aims are the following

1. Enhance knowledge awareness.

Provides guidance and instruction of all that will help individuals or groups of individuals
maintain a high level of wellness.
2. Promotes health, safety and security of the people.
Promotes personal hygiene, environmental sanitation, and maintenance of a hazard-free
environment for one to avoid illnesses, accidents and reduce morbidity and mortality rate.
3. Develop and improve community resources.
Help individual gain knowledge, understanding, habits, attitudes, and ideals that will help them
live as healthful individuals and members of the community.
4. Increase productivity and strength of character.
Help develop productive individuals who can adjust successfully and live happily with social group
in which they belong. Health education further enhance coping patterns that minimize the effects
of stress on individuals and family
5. Disease prevention.
Promotes individual and public health awareness on prevention of disease and for the state to be
the home of healthy and productive citizens.
6. Minimize cost.
Health education enables the government to attain health objectives at least cost. Knowledge and
awareness of the people regarding health promotion and disease prevention minimize health
care cost.

TYPES OF HEALTH EDUCATION

A. Information about human biology and hygiene. The nurse provides health information about
the human body and how to take care of it.
B. Health services which direct individuals to a “sensible” use of health care resources.
C. A friendly environment in which health choices are made. This concerned with national,
regional, and local education policies, which are often pursued and implemented without
considering health consequences

CONCEPTS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

The following terms are defined for clearer understanding of meanings and use.

1. Education – is an interactive process of imparting knowledge through sharing, explaining,

clarifying and synthesizing the substantive content of the learning process in order to arrive at a
positive judgment and well-developed wisdom and behavior (Kozier:2004)
2. Health – a condition that permits optimal functioning individual, enabling her to live most and to
serve best her personal and social relationship (Sharman,1948).
3. Learning – acquisition of knowledge of all kinds, abilities, habits, attitudes, values and skills
(Calderon:1998) to create change in an individual.
4. Patient teaching – dynamic interaction between the nurse as the teacher and the patient as the
learner
5. Teaching – the process of providing learning materials, activities, situations, and experiences to
enable clients or learners to acquire knowledge, attitudes, values and skills to facilitate self-reliant
behavior (Calderon:1998)
6. Education Process – a systematic, sequential, logical, scientifically based, planned course of
action consisting of teaching and learning (Bastable: 2007). It is a cycle that involves the teacher
and the learners.

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 7. Nursing Process – emphasizes the need to manage and maximize health by preventing risk factors
and encouraging healthy behavior.

Principles of Teaching-refers to law of teaching

Principle- comes from the latin word “princeps” which means the beginning or
the end of all things
- rule for guiding the ship of education so that it will reach the port
designated by the philosophy of education, it is a compass by which the
path of education is directed.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF TODAY’S TEACHING

1. Children learn by doing.

2. Motivation should be intrinsic and natural, not artificial.
Motivation- is the process which creates an inner drive within an individual to seek
goals or objectives
- influences an individual to act
Purposes of Motivation
a. To arouse for desire to achieve a goal
b. To stimulate action toward a particular objective
c. To cause a pupil to perform in a desired way
d. To create interest thereby cause a student to do the work at hand and willingly
complete it
e. To use various devices such as offering rewards or an appeal with the desire to
excel
f. To push an individual to a certain direction

Types of Motivation
a. Intrinsic- develops when the learner wants to learn for the sake of learning which
is based on personal motives or intentions
b. Extrinsic- develops when the learner wants to learn for the reasons other than
learning which is based on social motives

Maslow’s Theory of Motivation and Needs

Maslow states that people are motivated based on a variety of needs which is
categorized into five basic groups:
a. Physiological Needs
b. Safety Needs
c. Social Needs
d. Self-esteem needs
e. Self-actualization Needs
3. Learning should be gradual and continuous, not discrete.
4. Instruction should be adapted to individual needs.
5. Natural social settings should constitute learning situations.
6. Learning depends upon the child’s ability.
7. The child can best be educated as a whole, as a unit organism.
8. Learning comes through sense impressions.
9. Teacher-pupil and inter-pupil relationships should be cooperative.
10. Education means improving the quality of living.

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING

Accdg. to Michaelis et al., the following are the principles of learning.

1. Motivation-is obtained by relating instruction to needs and interest of students
2. Needs

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 3. Readiness for Learning – should be planned both in terms of prior learning and in
terms of experience needed
4. Discovery Learning – in which the students finds out on his own and goes beyond
what is given
5. Evaluation of Learning – is needed to provide feedback for students and information
for the teacher may be used.
6. Practice- is essential to the development and refinement of skills and retention of
learning.
7. Transfer of Learning- may be enhanced by making immediate applications to new
situations
8. Retention of Learning- may be aided by emphasizing personal meaning, value and
usefulness.
9. Individual differences – should be met by diagnosing needs.
10. Classroom Climate- or atmosphere should be characterized by mutual trust and
respect
11. Planned Sequence of Instruction – are essential to effective learning in all areas of the
curriculum, yet flexibility must be provided.
12. Interaction- with others and with rich classroom environment promotes learning
provided there is active teacher guidance in group planning.

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD TEACHING PRACTICE

Apart from the qualities a good teacher should possess, there are also ways the teacher must
practice to make a healthy and dynamic teaching-learning relationships as follows:

1. Encourage student-faculty interaction to create a closer relationship between nurse educators

and learners.
2. Promote cooperation among students to create an atmosphere conducive to collaborative
learning, such as forming study groups, and doing a variety of group projects.
3. Promote active learning to enable students to actively criticize content they are learning by
talking about the material, writing about it, outlining it, applying it, asking questions about it
and reflecting on it.
4. Give prompt feedback to enable students to react and understand what aspects of learning
they need to improve on and make needed adjustments in their learning styles.
5. Emphasize the use of time in each task to ensure that students know how much time they
should spend in learning a particular activity and encourage them to study and practice
seriously. Time management is the key towards efficient and effective study.
6. Communicate high expectations to challenge students. Learners are motivated to meet high
expectations if they are given the support and encouragement they need.
7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning by considering the fact that learners have
different learning styles. Thus, the teacher has to devise various teaching strategies and
activities to meet the students’ needs.

STEPS IN THE EDUCATION PROCESS

A. ASSESSMENT. Gathering of data about the learner’s demographic profile, skills, and abilities
needed in identifying the most appropriate teaching strategy for a particular learner.

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 B. PLANNING. A carefully organized written presentation of what the learner needs to learn and
how the nurse educator is going to provide the teaching.
C. IMPLEMENTATION AND APPLICATION OF THE TEACHING PLAN. The point where theoretical
and practical aspects of the teaching-learning process meet as the teacher applies the plan to
the learners.
D. EVALUATION. The measurement of teaching-learning performance of both teacher and
learners.

STEPS IN THE NURSING PROCESS

A. ASSESSMENT. Data collection and recording of all information

B. PLANNING. Setting priorities, goals and objectives and treatment options.
C. IMPLEMENTATION. Putting the plan into action
D. EVALUATION. Assessing the patient, if the desired outcomes have been met

Difference between the Education Process and Nursing Process

A. The nursing process focuses on planning and implementation of care based on assessment
and diagnosis of the physical and psychosocial needs of a patient
B. The education process focuses on planning and implementation of teaching based on
assessment and prioritization of learner needs, readiness to learn, and learning styles.

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