A Health Education Approach to Training Village Health Workers in Nigeria

Abstract

Health education plays an important role in the primary health care process, particularly in the training of village health workers. Three educational concepts, training based on community felt needs, trainee involvement and social and cultural realism, are essential in designing these programs. These concepts were applied over a three year period in the training of village health caretakers in Idere town of Oyo State, Nigeria. Volunteer village health workers from ten villages were able to bring about changes in knowledge, behaviour and health status of their fellow villagers indicating that the health education approach fostered skill transfer to the communities.