Enhancing Health Education with a Personal and Cultural Connection
Keywords:
health literacy, cultural connection, teaching strategies, social determinants of health, health equityAbstract
Purpose: Health education (HE) is a critical component of any school system, and the benefit of creating health literate individuals has the potential to positively impact the world. The practical life skills young people develop through a meaningful HE curriculum may set them up for a successful healthy life. There are multiple teaching strategies that improve the health education experience for all students, but arguably, a critical element that is often overlooked is the personal connection. This article will discuss the need for a HE curriculum focused on improving health literacy through the inclusion of social determinants of health, in order for students to create a personal and cultural connection (PACC). A secondary purpose of this article is to provide readers with an overview of the primary goals of a PACC approach as well as supporting lesson examples.
Conclusion: Providing more opportunities for students to make personal and cultural connections will further enhance the HE curriculum and improve health literacy, which in turn, will result in healthier, more knowledgeable citizens.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Laura Bruno Laura Bruno, Anne Farrell Anne Farrell
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
