Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

Health Education and Health Promotion 69
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE CONTRIBUTION
When instruction for health was found to be less effective than desired, and with disease
states related to lifestyle and behaviorally founded conditions, new developments
in other fields that were applicable were quickly noticed. One area that was appropriate
for health education to observe was the behavioral sciences. Behavioral science is
a broad field encompassing all of psychology, anthropology, sociology/education, and
the sub - areas of each and related fields — that part of knowledge and study that deals
with the actions and interactions of all of mankind and on an individual, group, or
community - wide basis. Certain aspects or segments of theory and application from the
various behavioral science fields seemed to be natural for health education and health
promotion.
In psychology the behavioralists introduced learning theory, behavior modification,
then behavior therapy, opening the door for health education to embrace “behavioral
change. ” These new ideas were incorporated into the already tangled health education
processes, although changing a person ’ s behavior after a crisis occurs (such as when a
heart attack victim stops smoking) is considered tertiary prevention. Even though this is
not primary prevention and is treating the problem after the fact, health education
embraces these types of activities (Vojtecky, 1984).
Behavior change as an adaptation from behavior therapy assumes that education
based on learning theory has the potential of influencing and changing behavior. In
turn, education for health is considered a useful intervention that can be applied where
attempts to change unhealthy behaviors are warranted. Proponents of this approach
accept a pre - determined set of values which are assumed to contribute to the health
status of the individual and health status in general (Simons & Padres, 1980; Parcel &
Baranowski, 1981). Some proponents of the field (Ward, 1981) believe that health
education should reflect more than a pupil ’ s knowledge or lack of it, behavior change
being one goal of prevention and health education.
Obviously there are major differences in various approaches to health education
practice. Although proponents of the various approaches espouse health knowledge
and see health education as having an important role in terms of informing specified
individuals or groups in matters regarding health, a major difference exists between
these groups regarding the issue of behavior change. The behavior change group
accepts the challenge of attempting to rid society of undesirable health behavior by
implementing educational and behavior - modifying interventions in an attempt to produce
a healthier population. However, along with accepting this challenge, the behavior
change camp also increases the risk of failure due to inherent complexities of the
behavior change process.
All these approaches to health education and promotion are commendable and necessary.
However, future trends resulting from current economic downturns will require
more accountability from health educators to justify health promotion efforts and show
that efforts are cost effective. The future health educator will have to “produce” in order
to qualify for scarce monies regardless of the sector, public or private. Behavioral