Health Education for Social Workers: A Primer

Abstract

Health education, as a discipline and specialization, is often overshadowed by other branches of public health (e.g., bio-statistics, epidemiology, and policy management). Although social workers have been performing health education for decades, social work students may not know the history of health education as a practice profession and its uses in a social work context. The purpose of this article is to introduce the field of health education to social work students who are currently, or anticipate, practicing health education in their careers. We conclude with implications for social work education and a discussion about the impact of collaborative social work and health education efforts in the reduction of health disparities.

Keywords:

• collaboration
• health care
• health education
• prevention
• social work training