Unpacking Community Health Education Theory: Promoting Health Equity - Research Paper

Introduction

To understand the working definition of community health education theory, it is essential to understand that it is comprised of two terms- community health education and theory. The term community health education refers to the study and improvement of health attributes of particular populations (The City University of New York, 2019). The goal of community health is to promote, protect, and improve the health of every person, community, and organizations. It is aimed at positively influencing the health behavior of each person, community, and organizations. Positive health behavior is achieved by promoting lifestyle changes, e.g., proper nutrition, increased physical activities, improved living conditions, and appropriate sexual behavior.

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According to Lavarack (2019), theory can be conceptualized in four levels. First, at the theoretical level, a theory refers to models used to understand a specific health problem. Examples of these models include the ecological model and the health belief model (Orlowski, 2015; Sharma, Branscum, & Atri, 2014). The second level of the theory includes the methods and approaches used in daily practice, e.g., capacity building, social marketing, peer education, and health literacy (Lavarack, 2019). Lastly, a theory can be defined as a means through which public health programs are delivered, e.g., participatory exercises, face to face communication, and mass media lobbying.

Based on the definitions of community health education and theory, a working definition of Community Health Education Theory is the use of health-related theories or models to study and improve the health attributes of particular populations. Additionally, it can be described as the use of health theories or models to promote, protect, and improve the health of every person, community, and organizations.

There are various reasons why health-related theories should be incorporated into public health practice. First, theories or models provide structures that guide daily practice. For instance, they show how particular behaviors can be changed. Secondly, it provides justification and rigor for what healthcare professionals do. Moreover, the use of conceptual frameworks in daily practice is crucial because it makes work easier and variables related to a particular health problem measurable. Incorporation of theories in our daily practice is also essential because it helps us to develop a rationale for research and robust methodological techniques needed to conduct the study.

Commitment to health theories grew out of the need to understand why individuals make good decisions regarding their health and why they continue performing healthy behaviors (Kelly, 2008). There are various theories and models which have been developed and used to understand the process of behavior change in healthcare. One of these models is the transtheoretical model (TTM) of behavior change. According to the TTM, behavioral change is accomplished in five main stages; pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance (LaMorte, 2019). In the precontemplation stage, an individual has not thought of adopting positive health-focused behavioral changes (Hirvonen, Pyky, Korpelainen, & Huotari, 2015; Shaffer, 2013).

The second and third stages (contemplation and preparation) are stages characterized by an individual's early thoughts about behavior change (Ekberg, Grenness, & Hickson, 2016; Ingo, Brannstrom, Andersson, Lunner, & Laplante-Levesque, 2016). Specifically, in the contemplation stage, an individual thinks about behavior change within the next six months (Behar-Horenstein & Zhang, 2018). On the other hand, in the preparation stage, an individual takes some actions instead of mulling things in his or her mind (Friman, Huck, & Olsson, 2017). Next, a person in the action stage has made observable and specific changes in his or her lifestyle in the past six months (Sachdeva, 2019). In stage 5, maintenance, the new actions that were adopted in stage 4 have been incorporated in an individual's daily life as positive habits (Hashemzadeh, Rahimi, Zare-Farashbandi, Alavi-Naeini, & Daei, 2019).

Differences Between Community Health Education Theory and Other Public Health Theories

To understand the differences between community health education theory and public health theory, it is crucial to know the differences between public health, community health, and health education. Public health is an umbrella or a broad term that encompasses everything and anything aimed at safeguarding and improving the health of the public (Caines, 2015). Next, community health is a sub-branch of public health aimed at studying and improving the health of a particular community through an understanding of risk factors and community support resources. On the other hand, health education is a sub-branch of public health focused on planning, implementing, and evaluating health programs (Caines, 2015).

Based on the definitions of community health and health education, community health education theories are theoretical models aimed at understanding, maintaining, protecting, and improving the health status of a specific community. In this case, a community can be people found in a specific geographic area. In this case, a community health researcher can explore the factors that contribute to a particular disease (e.g., diabetes), its protective factors, and community resources. Conversely, public health theories are theoretical approaches and models that seek to understand, safeguard, and improve public health. That is, public health theories have been developed for many communities rather than one community.

References

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Caines, M. (2015). Public health and health education: What's the difference? Retrieved from Purdue Global website: https://www.purdueglobal.edu/blog/health-sciences/public-health-and-health-education/

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