Groups are gatherings of two or more people with a common interest; they are a good target for your health education sessions. To understand the concept of group health education, imagine that there is a gathering of an HIV/AIDS peer educator group at the local secondary school. You may well be invited by the school administrator to deliver health messages on HIV/AIDS to help train groups such as these.

The community gather around to listen to a talk on specific health issues.

Organising health education groups in your community is important to raise awareness of specific health issues. (Photo AMREF/Dewit Abebe)

Look at the list below. What type of health education activity is each of these? Are they individual or group? When you have done this spend a few minutes thinking about the balance between group work and individual work that a health professional should try to achieve. Which aspects of group work or individual work do you think you will enjoy most?

  1. A family planning service for a couple
  2. A school club about HIV/AIDS
  3. A gathering of mothers about breast feeding their children
  4. Class students learning about hygiene and sanitation
  5. Factory workers understanding about occupational health hazards
  6. Counselling of a pregnant mother about issues relating to her pregnancy.
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