Introduction

In the previous sessions, we have tried to discuss the concept of health and health education and promotion. Human behavior is among the major determinants of the health of individuals, families or communities. Healthy behaviors contribute to the overall health of individuals and communities and unhealthy behaviors adversely affect the quality of life of people at different levels. Most health issues cannot be dealt with by treatment alone.

The promotion of health and prevention of diseases will usually involve some changes in life styles or human behavior. Therefore, in this session, you will learn about determinants of health, levels of disease prevention, different approaches of behavior change and roles of human behavior in disease prevention and health promotion.