The Value of Health Education

 

 

Post written by CHC member Melissa Rothman

Melissa serves at the Erie Family Health Center as a Health Educator

 

On February 22^nd, CHC members attended the Minority Health in the Midwest Conference at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Many presenters brought up the issue of the value of health education, a topic which has been increasingly discussed in the Public Health world.  I am personally very invested in health education, spending most of my service creating curriculums and teaching health classes with a particular emphasis on nutrition and healthy living.  Since 1992, the US Government has recommended different models for healthy eating, ranging from the Food pyramid to the MyPlate model, which is the current recommendation.   Despite these nutritional tools, many argue that health education has not done enough to reverse the negative health outcomes experienced by US residents.  Specifically, the obesity rate has continued to rise despite persistent health education efforts.  How long can we rely mainly on education without seeing significant health improvements?

A handful of CHC & HCC members at the conference deep in discussion, as usual. :)

If health education really is a “Band-Aid” solution, as one presenter suggested, is it better to abandon those efforts and focus on policy?  Would tackling the huge corporations that promote the consumption of high calorie foods with low nutritional value be a more effective use of time and resources?  While policy is important, I do believe that people are capable of making the changes that can transform their health and lives.  CHC has given me the chance to see the impact of education firsthand.  Although not all of my nutrition students have lost dramatic amounts of weight, a few have.  Furthermore, all of them reported feeling that they are better able and more ready to take charge of their own health, and hopefully, will continue to make healthy changes.  In my opinion, providing patients with the confidence and the tools to change their health is the value of health education.  I believe that we must continue these education efforts and combine them with policy changes in order to solve the obesity epidemic and other health issues worldwide.