The Influence of Context on Health Education: Observations, Conclusions and Recommendations

Abstract

This book follows two previous publications put out by Sense Publishers - Science Education in Context and Environmental Education in Context, each of which offered ideas and viewpoints from authors in mainly non-Western countries. Given our interests and experience, it was perhaps a logical progression for us to conceptualize a book about health education and to again focus largely on non-Western contexts. Three of us have been involved in teaching health education and three of us have lived and worked in non-Western countries and experienced a range of health systems and health education regimes at first hand. All of us have a background in science and environmental education. Certainly, the links between the three aspects of education, that is, science, the environment, and health, are strong. Science underpins many aspects of health and health education, and the state of the environment can have a marked effect on the health of individuals and communities. For example, air and water quality are crucial environmental factors that can significantly affect respiratory and digestive health respectively. Furthermore, health education, like environmental education, is concerned, to a large extent, with behavioral change. As such, it lends itself to action orientation. It can be argued that health education, again like environmental education, is a government, community, and individual responsibility. But key to effecting change and improving health is an informed citizenry.