Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Health Education among Sample of Iraqi Patients Attending Primary Health Care Centers

Lujain A Alkhazrajy

doi:10.47723/kcmj.v14i2.51

Abstract

Background: Health education was put as one of the components of primary health care elements and was recognized as a fundamental tool to the attainment of health for all Objective: To evaluate the Knowledge, attitude regarding health education & to find out if there is any association between the gathered data and certain variables (age, gender, educational level, occupation). Methods: A Cross-sectional study done at Al Mustansyryia Primary Health Care Center from the 1st of January to 1st of May 2016. All patients attending the Primary Health Care Centers who were above 18 years of age and willing to participate in the research (303) were included in the sample, data was collected by structured questionnaire, & then introduced into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences,V.17 for statistical analysis. Chi-square test was computed for significance of difference, and P < 0.05 was considered significant Results: The highest group of age was (18-30) years old, (51.5%) were male, (35.3%) of participants are of high school education. The participants had good knowledge about health education. There was a significant association regarding knowledge, with ages and educational levels of participants, with no association regarding the gender and occupation. There was no association regarding attitude with these variables. Most of the of participants showed positive attitudes about health education as a practice Conclusion: The participants had good knowledge about health education, and positive attitude.

Highlights

I t is established for the fact that most health problems of the country are primarily related to individual and group behaviors as well as life styles
At the time of Alma-Ata declaration of Primary Health Care in 1978, health education was put as one of the components of PHC and it was recognized as a fundamental tool to the attainment of health for all.[5]
The survey results suggest that a major proportion of physicians and other health professionals lack the basic knowledge, attitudes and skills required to provide optimal MCH care

Summary

Introduction

I t is established for the fact that most health problems of the country are primarily related to individual and group behaviors as well as life styles. Health education is any combination of learning experiences designed to help individuals and communities improve their health, by increasing their knowledge or influencing their attitudes.[2] It is a profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health ,intellectual health, and spiritual health.[3] It can be defined as the principle by which individuals and groups of people learn to behave in a manner conducive to the promotion, maintenance, or restoration of health. Health education was put as one of the components of primary health care elements and was recognized as a fundamental tool to the attainment of health for all

Results

Discussion

Conclusion