ABSTRACT
Health education is seen as a component of health promotion. The division of health education was formed in 1978. The changes in health education – strongly influenced by Michael Palko – which took place in the context of major social and health changes, are described. In the 1970s, health education and promotion were increasingly criticized for over-emphasis on life-style problems and individual responsibility for health. Under the heading current status, the chapter describes community health education, school health education and other health education settings. There are few programmes to train health educators for either school or community work although provision of continuing education in health education is increasing. There are two major lines of research: evaluation studies and studies of factors affecting health behaviour. Research is funded from a number of sources. Important future trends: changes in health problems; the increased emphasis on health promotion; and the prospects for professionalization are discussed.
