A Multifaceted Approach to Health Education: A Case Study from Rural Egypt

Abstract

This article describes and evaluates an environmental health education project, focusing on water and sanitation issues, which was carried out in two Egyptian villages in the Nile delta. The study is multifaceted as it involves various hygiene education strategies carried out by health unit staff, teachers, graduate volunteers and local village leaders who deliver simple environmental health messages in a variety of different settings. The project is also multifaceted in that it looks at health education in relation to specific health interventions, in this case in water and sanitation; it identifies the full context of relevant local behavior; and it collaborates with local people, especially women, in the design and implementation of the program. Based on the experience gained during this project, a broad based model for health education is presented.