Shaping the future of health education: from behavior change to social change

The view that individual behavior change is the primary goal of health education presents several serious problems. Although individual behavior does contribute to health and disease, social organization is perhaps a more powerful influence. The use of behavior change as the primary tool for health...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Health education monographs Vol. 6; no. 4; p. 372
Main Author:	Freudenberg, N
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States 01-12-1978
Subjects:	Behavior Therapy Ethics Health Education - trends Health Promotion Health Status Humans Life Style Social Change
Online Access:	Get more information
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Summary:	The view that individual behavior change is the primary goal of health education presents several serious problems. Although individual behavior does contribute to health and disease, social organization is perhaps a more powerful influence. The use of behavior change as the primary tool for health education raises grave ethical issues. Health education which seeks to change individual behavior has also failed to have a significant impact on public health. An alternative strategy is health education for social change. The goal of this approach is to involve people in collective action to create health promoting environments and life-styles. Several contemporary models for and principles characteristic of health education for social change are described.
ISSN:	0073-1455
DOI:	10.1177/109019817800600404