INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIO

N FOR HEALTH(IEC)

HEALTH BEHAVIOR , It is an action taken by a person to

maintain, attain, or regain good health and to prevent illness. Health behavior reflects a person's health beliefs. Some common health behaviors are exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, and obtaining necessary inoculations.

Health education It can be defined as the principle by which individuals and groups of people learn to behave in a manner conducive to the promotion, maintenance, or restoration of health. there are also multiple definitions of health education.

The World Health Organization defined Health Education as "comprising of consciously constructed opportunities for learning involving some form of communication designed to improve health literacy, including improving knowledge, and developing life skills which are conducive to individual and community health.“ 

PLANNING FOR HEALTH EDUCATION Diagnosis or assessment of health

needs, problems, attitudes, and communities at risk of illness.

Designing a suitable health education program with community involvement

Planning for appropriate setting Use of appropriate teaching aids/

methods

DIAGNOSING THE HEALTH PROBLEMS General socio economic situation Patterns of illness Target group in the population Health needs Attitudes, customs, feelings and ideas

that can be changed by education Identification of communicators

DESIGN APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT The message of the program must be

clear, understandable and acceptable

PLAN FOR APPROPRIATE SETTING Home Clinics or health centres Hospitals Community meeting places Anganwadi and schools

USE APPROPRIATE TEACHING METHODS Understand the group More resourcefulness Effective and penetrating

HEALTH EDUCATION WITH INDIVIDUAL GROUP AND COMMUNITIES

Health education can be carried out through:

1. Working with individual persons, couples and families

2. Working with small groups of community members

3. Mass approach

HEALTH EDUCATION WITH INDIVIDUAL Personal contact or face to face

discussion Helps to correct misconceptions Helps to understand attitudes and ideas

of individual The nurse should follow the following

steps:

A. PLAN FOR THE VISITS

Study the house hold record Make a note of what is to be discussed Check on facts to be given on a referred

service available Fix the date and time of interview to

suite the convenience of the individual or family

B. APPROACH TO THE INDIVIDUAL Introduce herself and greet the person

according to local custom Build up rapport with individual Judge the length of nurse’s stay

according to the convenience of the family

C. DURING THE INTERVIEW Lead the people to do the things and

listen to the other person’s point of view Do not take decisions for the individual

but help him to arrive at the right decision on his own

Be sensitive to the feelings, moods and the reactions of the individual

Refrain from moralizing Try to help the individual face and solve

his/ her problems Avoid arguments and be flexible

D. FOLLOW UP Command any action taken on

suggestions made Find out what difficulties have come in

the way of carrying out the suggested measures

Provide adiitional information as required