Abstract
This study aimed to identify the knowledge, experiences, and attitudes about current practices of health education (HE) among government-affiliated high-profile health administrators in developed and developing nations. Respondents (N = 21) were purposively selected based on their affiliation as a health administrator at the national level, with roles in high-profile decision-making for devising policies/programs and allocating funding or advocating strategies to advance HE. Information was gathered using a web-based cross-sectional survey in 5 languages, consisting of 14 closed-ended and 8 open-ended questions. A majority were males (70%) and spoke English (57%), 45% had postgraduate degrees, and 57% were from high-income countries. Participants recognized the importance of HE in their countries and estimated percentages of adults who received health information through various sources. Participants also rated population subgroups that benefit from HE. They highly rated these health issues for HE: control/prevention of communicable diseases, nutrition, physical activity, mental health, and tobacco and other drugs. Only 40% reported having enough resources and funding available for HE. For the qualitative questions, irrespective of being from developed or developing countries, most respondents identified the need for invigorating HE that could be categorized into seven key areas: HE program evaluation, actions to strengthen HE, organizations responsible for identifying HE priorities, job titles of health educators, how ministry collects information on HE needs, high priority health issues and ensuring equity, and ways nongovernmental organizations can strengthen HE. Findings were helpful to identify: high priority HE issues across countries; status of HE programs among government entities; status of funding for HE programs; and how countries can provide more effective program outcomes. Further studies with higher response rate are needed to address these specific issues.
Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-8798-0894
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Torabi, Mohammad; Jayawardene, Wasantha; Daniels, Dennis; Dutta, Tapati; Bragazzi, Nicola; and Lohrmann, David K.
(2022)
"Global Perspectives for Strengthening Health Education: A Mixed-Methods Study,"
Health Behavior Research:
Vol. 5:
No.
3.
https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-1836.1119
Included in
Health and Physical Education Commons, Health Policy Commons, Health Services Administration Commons, International Public Health Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons
