[Communication theory and health education]

Health Education can be understood as a communication process, in which a communicator gives a message to receivers through a certain channel with a specific destination. The application of the results of communication research to problems of Health Education is difficult since, on the one hand, communication research does not sufficiently relate to the problems of Health Education and, on the other, the Health Educators often ignore the results of empirical research. Moreover, it is inherent in communication theory to overstimate knowledge as a vehicle of behavior change. The norms, laws and institutions of society often limit the possibilities of Health Education. Another limitation consists in the lack of information concerning many of the factors which cause health damaging behavior. The consequences of these considerations are that efficient Health Education has to be carried out not only on the personal but also on the societal level and that knowledge about the causes of health-injuring behavior must be improved. A model of integrated Health Education is presented.