Health education is one of the essential services in our current era, where governments must take it into account seriously and treat it as a primary service rather than just a secondary service with a welfare aspect. The World Health Organization defines health education as a set of knowledge and skills that accumulate through daily activities and social interactions. Organizational structures and available resources play a crucial role in acquiring this knowledge, enabling individuals to access, understand, evaluate, and use information and services in ways that enhance their health and the health of those around them.
Public Health Education Service in Saudi Arabia
There is no doubt that the development currently witnessed in Saudi Arabia across all fields—economic, political, and social—is fascinating. In this context, it is essential to highlight the public health education service at Missbah Alaml clinic in Saudi Arabia. Health knowledge is a fundamental pillar in building a conscious society capable of facing health challenges. By providing accurate and updated information, individuals can make informed decisions about their health. Promoting this knowledge contributes to reducing health risks and enhances individuals' ability to effectively deal with health crises.
Health education represents a set of personal knowledge and skills that accumulate through daily activities and social interactions across generations. Organizational structures and available resources play a vital role in providing public health education services in Saudi Arabia, enabling individuals to access, understand, evaluate, and use information and services in ways that enhance their health and the health of those around them. This is often referred to as organizational health education.
In the United States, health education is considered a stronger indicator of an individual's health status compared to income, employment status, education level, or ethnic background. However, many children, adolescents, and adults still lack the necessary skills in health education, even in economically advanced countries in Europe.
Instilling Healthy Behaviors through Public Health Education Service in Saudi Arabia
The educational activities carried out by Missbah Alaml clinic contribute to instilling healthy behaviors that benefit individuals and society as a whole. Through guidance and counseling, individuals can adopt healthy habits such as proper nutrition and exercise, positively reflecting on their overall health. Instilling these behaviors is a vital step toward improving quality of life and reducing the spread of diseases.
Importance of Improving Health Education
Health education within the public health education service in Saudi Arabia requires providing comprehensive and equitable education, along with continuous learning skills. A wide range of social factors contribute to shaping health education, meaning that the responsibility for acquiring skills does not rest solely on individuals. All stakeholders, including governments, civil society, and health services, must provide reliable information in a comprehensible and applicable manner for everyone.
It is also recommended to implement strategies and interventions aimed at raising health education rates at both organizational and personal levels. The public health education service in Saudi Arabia can be enhanced by improving training and organizational processes, including strengthening aspects of communication and informed decision-making.
Social Benefits of Raising Health Education Rates
Improving health education and empowering the public health education service in Saudi Arabia among population groups enables citizens to take an active role in improving their health, successfully engage with the community for health, and hold governments accountable for addressing health issues and equity in health. Meeting the needs of the most deprived and marginalized communities in health education can accelerate progress in reducing health inequities and other areas. Efforts to improve health education are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 and are necessary to transform health systems to provide good and equitable care focused on individuals.
The impact of health education is not limited to individuals but extends to the entire community. When individuals acquire health knowledge and adopt healthy behaviors, it contributes to creating a safer and healthier environment. Promoting health awareness and the public health education service in Saudi Arabia enhances individuals' ability to collectively face health challenges, leading to improved public health and reduced burden on the health system.
Organization's Response
The organization works to promote health education by providing technical support and guidance to member states from the public health education doctor in Saudi Arabia to ensure effective management of health education aspects. This includes improving reporting systems to enable countries to accurately assess the scope of health education and providing necessary training to build capacity in this field. Reporting systems allow for the collection of data about populations, aiding informed decision-making at all levels.
Terms in Health Education
- Health: A state of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being, not merely the absence of disease or disability.
- Health Culture: The public health education doctor in Saudi Arabia works to provide health-related information and facts concerning health and disease to all individuals.
- Health Awareness: Individuals' familiarity with health information and facts, along with their sense of responsibility towards their health and the health of others. This awareness is considered the goal we strive to achieve, not just health culture.
- Healthy Habit: A behavior performed by an individual without thought or feeling due to its continuous repetition.
- Health Practice (Healthy Behavior): Actions taken by an individual intentionally, stemming from adherence to certain values. Healthy practices can turn into habits performed unconsciously due to frequent repetition, and this is the family's responsibility, starting with instilling these habits in the child before they understand the health principles associated with them.
Goals and Needs of Health Education
Goals
- Disseminate sound health concepts and knowledge in the community.
- Empower individuals to identify their health problems and needs.
- Assist individuals in solving their health problems using their capabilities.
- Build healthy attitudes.
- Establish sound health behaviors and transform incorrect behaviors into correct ones.
Ultimate Goal of Health Education
- Improve health at the individual and community levels.
- Reduce the incidence of diseases.
- Decrease disabilities and mortality rates.
- Enhance the quality of life for individuals and the community.
Need for Health Education
Everyone needs health education and access to the public health education service in Saudi Arabia, regardless of age, gender, literacy, or education level, as it contributes to improving awareness and raising the level of interest and perception among all segments of society.
Elements of Health Education
Health education is considered a communication process in which the message (health information and knowledge) is transmitted from the sender (health educator) to the receiver (target of health education) through a communication channel (means of health education). Therefore, the elements of the public health education service in Saudi Arabia include:
- Health message
- Health educator (sender)
- Target of education (receiver)
- Means of health education (communication channel)
Elements Required for Effective Impact in Education
- The health message must be accurate, clear, understandable, appropriate for the recipient's level, and engaging to achieve the desired goal of the public health education service in Saudi Arabia.
- The health educator must possess knowledge and the ability to convey it, be convinced and believe in the message they intend to deliver, and have effective communication skills.
- The degree of understanding of the health education target and their culture must be determined, and they should have the desire to change, focusing on their health needs.
- Various means of health education are used to disseminate health information, which will be mentioned in the next section.
Levels of Health Education
Health education can be provided at four levels:
- Individual Health Education: An individual is educated by the public health education doctor in Saudi Arabia about matters that concern them, such as nutrition, the nature and causes of diseases and their prevention, personal hygiene, and environmental sanitation.
- Family Health Education: Education at this level is an important requirement, as many healthy behaviors are instilled through the family, positively affecting family members and the entire community.
- Group Health Education: This category includes individuals with similar characteristics, such as children, mothers, or smokers, who may be at risk of common health problems.
- Community Health Education: This is done through media, allowing the public health education service in Saudi Arabia to reach a large number of citizens across different segments and levels.
In conclusion, it is clear that public health education in Saudi Arabia plays a pivotal role in achieving sustainable development goals. By enhancing health awareness and providing necessary information, the Saudi community can improve quality of life and reduce disease rates through Missbah Alaml clinic, contributing to building a healthy society capable of facing future challenges.
Investing in the public health education service in Saudi Arabia is not limited to improving individual health but also extends to enhancing the national economy by increasing productivity and reducing health costs. Additionally, health education enhances individuals' ability to make informed decisions, contributing to achieving sustainable development through improving public health and well-being.
