Education for health promotion and disease prevention: convince them, don't confuse them

Promotion of health and prevention of disease have become some of the most emphasized issues of the 1990s. The government, health professionals, and private organizations have made the primary prevention of disease a priority. Quality education is a major intervention by which prevention is realized. However, superior quality educational offerings entail significant pre-preparation via the development of clear and realistic teaching/learning plans, faculty knowledge of educational psychology, metacognition and cognitive processing, understanding of cultural diversity, incorporation of adult learning principles, the use of varied teaching/learning strategies, and astute application of program evaluation skills. Educators, like nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals, must work with people to mutually decipher their healthcare needs and plan educational experiences that learners can merge with their own life experiences and ethnocultural perspectives. In addition, educators should use health education materials that match learners' literacy levels. Most importantly, such programs must be thoughtfully evaluated in light of the achievable goals that were outlined during preplanning stages. Without outcomes assessment as part of health promotion/disease prevention education programs, health educators are less likely to produce interventions that learners value and from which they truly benefit. Optimally, education programs about health promotion/disease prevention should generate long-term critical thinking processes that produce positive health choices, behavioral change, and healthy life styles.