The Five Major Philosophies In Health Education

Because we as individuals all have different belief systems in terms of our overall views on health, our attitudes about life, etc., philosophical principles were developed. These principles help health educators become less biased towards their patient populations and more effective in the pursuits of educating others about the importance of making better health choices. For this reason, philosophy plays an essential role in health education. According to Black et all, “philosophy allows us to confidently address important topics more specific to the field such as defining the concept of optimal health, examining the relationship between free will and determinism, or explaining why one smoker is important” (Black et all, p. 13). Moreover, philosophies allow health educators to use logical reasoning that are applicable in changing one’s health behaviors. These philosophies have the ability to dictate how people live their lives on a day to day basis, health wise. There are five major philosophies in health education. They are 1) Cognitive-based philosophy, 2) Decision making, 3) Behavior

82). For instance, when working with the obese patient the provider could consider helping the patient with making some social, economic, and/or political changes. Instead of expecting the patient to make changes to their health on their own, the provider can assist the patient with getting into support groups that would aid in holding the patient accountable for their actions while keeping them on the right track. He could also make sure to assist the patient with getting a gym membership that is economically affordable for this specific patient. By focusing on changing some of the aspects around the patient, the provider is allowing the patient to see the benefits that making social changes