HISTORY OF HEALTH EDUCATION
Early History:
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Trial and Error (lay-referral network)
Medical lore passed down from generation to
generation
Throughout history people have always turned to
some type of medicine man or physician for counsel
Ancient Cultures:
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Good hygiene practices
Paved streets, drains, sewer systems
Code of Hammurabi
Before science enabled us to determine pathogenic
causes of disease, spiritual explanations and
leadership prevailed
Greeks:
Balance of physical, mental, and spiritual
 Hippocrates and the“atomic theory” (p.43)
 Recorded observations
between disease and
geography, living conditions,
climate, and diet
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Romans:
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Conquered the Greeks, but retained their medical
knowledge
Exceptional builders of water and sewage systems
Attention to where they located towns and drainage
Advanced study of human anatomy and surgery
Middle Ages:
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In order for people to be protected, they built
fortresses around their property and animals
Overcrowding and sanitation
Little emphasis on cleanliness in early Christianity
Disease was caused by sin or disobeying God
Time of great epidemics – bubonic plague
Renaissance:
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Beginning of change
Disease and plague still rampant
Bloodletting popular
“water casting”
Barbers performed surgery and dentistry
Hygiene of royalty
Renaissance cont.
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Printing press invented so classical writing could be
reproduced
OK to study the human body and anatomy advanced
Leeuwenhoek discovered the microscope
John Graunt made advancement in epi
“health boards” began to be developed in
communities
Age of Enlightenment:
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Disease and plagues still raged
Miasmas theory of disease took hold
Mind and body were dependent on one another
Edward Jenner discovered vaccine procedure for
smallpox
1800’s (Bacterial period of public Health)
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First half of the century diseases continued to rage
1842 Edwin Chadwick’s report
1849 John Snow and the Broad Street pump
Louis Pasteur – Germ theory of disease
Joseph Lister – antiseptic method
Health Education & Promotion in the United States
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Early colonial schools
1647 – “Old Deluder” law
By mid 1800’s schools were tax supported and
attendance was required
1850 –first mandate to teach physiology and
hygiene in all public schools
1850 - Shattuck Report
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1873 – APHA started
1874-1890 Women’s Crusade, later called the
Women’s Christian Temperance Union
1890’s - medical inspections began
1901- Thomas Wood
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1914 - Demonstration projects began
1914 – WWI, 1st large scale measure of health
status of Americans
1920’s-1930’s many studies designed to clarify
the role of health education
Great Depression, 1929-1941
WWII, 1939-1945
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1950 – Health Education was emerging as integral
part of elementary, secondary, & college curriculum
1970’s:The Era of Prevention
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1971 – Coalition of National Health
Organizations formed
1974 – LaLonde Report
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Health Field Concept **
1974 – CDC was established
1979 – Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s
Report on Health Promotion and Disease
Prevention was published
1980’s
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Promoting Health & Preventing Disease: Objectives
for the Nation
Initial Role Delineation study for Health Education
Examination of professional preparation programs
and professional competencies
First Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES)
recognized
1990’s
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National Health Education Standards published
Responsibilities/competencies for entry-level Health
Educators published
SOC designation for Health Educators
Competencies Update Project (CUP)
2000’s
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Unified Code of Ethics
Report of Joint Committee on Health Education &
Promotion Terminology
Promotion of CHES
Revised national HE competencies (3 levels)
based on CUP
Outcome-Based Education & Practice
Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act
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Signed into law March 2010
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Expands health care coverage
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Should help health education specialists
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Focus on prevention & preventive services
Encourages & promotes worksite wellness
Evidence-based community prevention & wellness programs
Moves prevention toward the mainstream
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Some components of the law are already in place
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Major components required in 2014; not be fully implemented until 2019