Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

CHAPTER
10
PHILOSOPHICAL TRENDS
IN HEALTH EDUCATION:
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE
TWENTY - FIRST CENTURY
H ELEN M. W ELLE
R OBERT D. R USSELL
M ARK J. K ITTLESON
T hese are exciting times for the health education profession. Increasing demands
are being placed upon the health education profession to assist in health promotion
and disease prevention strategies (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
1991), and a strong self - directedness will assure successful participation for the profession.
Yet health education has been accused of defining itself in a reactionary
mode, alternating its mission and philosophy as the situation demands (Kreuter,
1979). Oberteuffer (1977) stated that a discipline without a philosophy lacks direction.
Shirreffs (1988) articulated that a clearly delineated mission and philosophy of
health education would determine participation in various national health efforts.
Our profession is at a critical stage of self - evaluation, of which philosophical inquiry
is a key element. Answers to the questions of what health education is (mission) and