Most nations have their own government public health divisions. They serve the health needs of their citizens and community members by providing public health assistance. The health divisions of the federal, state or local governments are usually known as ministries of health. In the video summary of theory by Laureate Education (2009), Michael Patton explores the idea of public health theory in research and the connection between community health education theory and other theories. However, he indicated community health education theory as integral part and a tool for health promotion. He also indicated public health theories as vital and central methodology in a scholarship and scientific approach. He also identified theory as an explanation of set of ideas used in research community. My working definition of community health education theory is that of the one according to health education research (2014), as “social environments that influence health behaviors, but theories of how this occurs are relatively underdeveloped.” One of the differences between community health education theory and related theories is the association between theories of health behavior as part and parcel of community health education theory. Community health education theory supported the concept for the improvement of health education in population and the promotion of community health asset. There are researchers who found out that the ability to empower others was a behavior associated with collective leadership in health education theory. This notion of empowerment has historical roots in the social change movement of the 1960s and 1970s, when it unfolded as a process for the “oppressed” to use their strengths to take charge of their lives. The empowerment process, viewed through social change lens, involves increasing personal, interpersonal, or political power so that individuals, families, and communities can take action to take charge of their situations (Gutierrez, 1994).
Gutierrez, L. (1994). Beyond coping: An empowerment perspective on stressful life events.
Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 21: 201-219.
Health Behavior and Health Education. (n.d.). About Health Behavior and Health Education. Retrieved from http://www.med.upenn.edu/hbhe4/
Health Education Research. (2014). New health education research findings from Johns Hopkins university (developing behavioral theory with the systematic integration of community social capital concepts). Education Letter, 82. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1614953777?accountid=14872
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009j). Theory. Baltimore, MD: Author.
