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The Importance Of Health Education

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What is Health education? Why is it so important? Health education is where you teach people about their health and how they can improve their daily lives. So how is Health education defined? A good example for health education is a Joint Committee on Health Education and Promotion Terminology "any combination of planned learning experiences based on sound theories that provide individuals, groups, and communities the opportunity to acquire information and the skills needed to make quality health decisions" (Joint Committee on Health Education and Promotion Terminology, 2001). As the World Health Organization explained, Health education is consciously making new opportunities for learning that involve communication which is made to improve health understanding, which includes improving knowledge, and making new life skills which are easier to the individuals and the targeted community. Walton stated that "As health education specialists, we take very complex, difficult-to-understand language and make it understandable and appealing to our target audience," Walton also stated at another point "It is always challenging because you are working with people in various settings" (National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, 2010). "The goal of health education is to promote, maintain, and improve individual and community health through the educational process” (Allegrante, 1986). To first understand what health educators do and why they are needed; one needs to be

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