Running Head: CHALLENGES IN PROMOTING HEALTH EDUCATION 1

Challenges in Promoting Health Education

Name

Institution
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The major challenge that the health care providers face in the current world is health

literacy. Without proper access to information, it becomes difficult for individuals, communities

and even organizations to process messages to help improve their health. Historically, we have

seen people go to their health care providers, to get health care education, but in this present era,

it is difficult to see doctors for consultation only. Most of the practitioners in the private sector

charge consultation fees and even those in the public sector do not have time to just sit down and

talk when they should be treating patients. Although health information is widely available

through the internet, people who are not well educated do not have much money and are few in

the community are less likely to have access to such information (Paasche-Orlow & Wolf, 2007).

The reason for this is because they do not have knowledge on internet use and might not even

own smart phones. Youths on the other hand do not have challenges in accessing the health

information, since they can easily Google on their phones or from cyber cafes. The less educated

minority, therefore have to see health providers and this may be a good way for them but what

happens when the nurse they know is not there? What if the nurse who they have developed a

bond with gets transferred? This method of delivering information has many challenges that are

related to health education literacy (Schillinger, Bind man, Wang, Stewart & Piette, 2004). The

first major challenge is building of trust between the practitioner and the patient. In cases where

the practitioner is not of their age, they do not feel comfortable explaining their problems to

them. Some dont even return to the same practitioner each time they visit the hospital making it

difficult for practitioners to follow up on their health education. The time dedicated for attending

patients maybe limited such that practitioners do not have time to fully communicate with the

patients, where the patients maybe slow in expression and the practitioners do not get to

understand what they mean. For example, in some hospitals, the nurses give out printed
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brochures, articles or books which some patients might take time to read while others may not.

Especially those who are not well educated may find it challenging to understand the information

written due to use of scientific terms making it difficult to promote health education.

Healthcare providers can overcome the challenges of differing points of view by creating

a learning environment that is built on mutual trust, acceptance and respect. Where the patient

can consider the practitioner their closest friend with whom they can share their problems. The

aim of this being to provide education that positively impacts the life of the patient and involves

them in decision making. For example, in the Hispanic culture, they have beliefs that it is better

to take on the traditional practices when it comes to illness. They use herbs and consult religious

people before they can actually seek treatment from a practitioner. They believe that sickness is

an act of God that is a form of punishment for not living well. Nurses should therefore

continually develop their knowledge in practicing their own culture which will help them to

avoid being bias. There is need for patient assessment which can help determine their level of

health literacy, so that nurses can make decisions based on the assessment they made rather than

their feelings. The process of teaching is not easy and requires assessing, prioritizing learning

needs and how to implement the strategies that are designed to tackle the identified learning

needs (Chang & Kelly, 2007). For example, my neighbor, Lydia who is a campus student, had a

baby in her apartment when we were freshmen. She did not go to hospital and as a result she and

the baby lost a lot of blood. When she took the baby to hospital, the doctor found that the babys

hemoglobin was low and she needed blood transfusion. Due to her cultural beliefs, Lydia was not

for the idea and the doctor suggested that the baby should be fed on foods that were rich in iron

and vitamin B. Hence Lydia and her baby had to eat a lot of fruit and vegetable to supplement for
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the Vitamins that were in deficit. In this case, it is the doctor who provides an alternative which

works the same way as the blood transfusion.

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References

Chang M & Kelly A. (2007). Patient Education: Addressing Cultural Diversity and Health

Literacy Issues. 27(5), 411-417. Retrieved on 3rd Nov 2016 from; www.medscape.com

Paasche - Orlow, M.K & Wolf, M.S, (2007). The casual pathways linking health literacy to

health outcomes. American Journal of Health Behavior, 31, 19-26.

Schillinger D, Bind man A, Wang F, Stewart A, & Piette J, (2004). Functional health literacy and

the quality of physician-patient communication among diabetes patients. Patient

Education and Counseling, 52, 315-323.