Educational Institution
Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Student Name,
HEALTH EDUCATION 2
Assume that all information about a topic is available online (health education/promotion).If that were true, would there be any need for health education specialists? Defend your answer.
If all the information about health education and promotion were available online, there would still be a need for Health Education Specialists. With so many websites available, and the vast amount of information on these sites, choosing a credible website would be overwhelming. People would not know which site to choose, what to believe and whose standards were approved within the healthcare community. People should use websites for informational purposes only, and it should not be a substitute for professional medical advice or health education. When someone is ill they might do an online search to check their symptoms, however they will ultimately end up at the doctor’s office. This should be the same process with health education.
A health education specialist is trained in health care services and is able to disseminate information to individuals. They can assist patients with interpreting data, answering patient’s questions and verifying information. A health education specialist can also recommend best practices to patients and educate them on the standards in the medical community. A website is useful in providing research on topics related to health education, but should not be used as a total health regime. The human aspect is still needed in this field. Individuals need someone available if they have questions, someone knowledgeable in the subject area and willing to provide additional resources for the patient. Because the information covered is so critical (drug use, sex education, obesity, mental health, etc.), it is necessary to have a specialist to explain how the data relates to patient. Online resources are a good place to research health education information; but a health education specialist is needed to interpret and dissect the data.
