Individual Methods of Health Education

This method involves person to person or face to face communication which provides maximum opportunity for two way flow of ideas, knowledge and information. Adequate interaction between the health educator and his client help provide health education successfully resulting in attitude and expected behavior change. way of successful individual health education methods are Counseling and Interview.

Counceling

The provision of professional assistance and guidance in resolving personal or psychological problems. (Dictionary). The job or process of listening to someone and giving that person advice about their problems. (Cambridge Dictionary)  Counseling is advice which a therapist or other expert gives to someone about a particular problem. (Collins  Dictionary)

Features of counseling 

Counseling is interviewing the person being counselled and helping to solve his problems through human approach of sharing and guidance.

Counseling is sitting down in private setting for an open discussion with an individual. Sometimes it is to pay a sincere compliment, sometimes it is to solve a problem that is hurting productivity/effectiveness, sometimes it is because an employee violated your discipline line and you need to talk about improvement in his behavior.

It is communicating one to one, in private. It is interviewing- it's a two way dialogue.

It is encouraging the other person to talk about himself so that the problem and it's reasons emerge clearly and solutions can be worked out.

Techniques of counseling 

1. Building rapport
2. Identifying client’s need or problem
3. Finding ways to solve the problem
4. Maintaining patience
5. Keeping secret
6. Follow-up

“GATHER” technique of counseling

1. G = Greet
2. A = Ask
3. T = Tell client about choices
4. H = Help client make an informed choice
5. E = Explain how to use chosen method
6. R = Return visit should be welcomed

Opportunities for counseling 

1. Counseling at health facility
2. Counseling at School
3. Counseling at Home
4. Counseling at workplace

Qualities of a counselor 

1. A counselor must be friendly, sincere, cooperative and sociable so that he can work with his client well
2. He/she must have the capacity of judging things closely and in detail.
3. He/she must have patience to listen and deal with problem with due respect to his client.
4. He/she must possess the skills of communication and monitoring the progress of counseling.
5. He/she must have the ability of convincing his client for taking necessary actions to solve his health problem.

Strengths

1. Counseling is helpful in dealing with individual client and motivate him to take necessary actions to solve his health problem.
2. Provides maximum opportunity for feedback and helps to maintain two way communication process.
3. Enables to solve even serious or complicated health problems.
4. Even illiterate people can be taught by this method.
5. Easy to make follow-up studies on the basis of counseling records.

Limitations 

1. Counseling takes long period of time.
2. It is difficult to cover wide range of people through counseling method.
3. Sometimes, loss of patience might make counseling a failure. 

Interview

Meaning

•  a meeting of people face to face, especially for consultation. (Dictionary)
• An interview is a formal meeting at which someone is asked questions in order to find out if they are suitable for a job or a course of study. (Collins English Dictionary)
•  An interview is a conversation where questions are asked and answers are given. In common parlance, the word "interview" refers to a one-on-one conversation between an interviewer and an interviewee. (Wikipedia)

Kinds of interview

1. Planned or structured

• It is taken with the help of written questionnaire or interview tool.
• It contains a set of predetermined questions which are structured in a written form to collect information on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the individuals concerned and also on the factors affecting them.
• It is also viewed as formal type of interview.

     2. Spontaneous or unstructured interview

• In such interview no predetermined questions are set or asked.
• The interviewer collects information by free discussion on the  light of apparent or existing health problem.
• The questions will be spontaneous based on the facing problem.
• It is viewed as informal type of interview.

Strengths

• Helpful to know individual’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviours.
• Helpful for intensive and systematic teaching with exchange of ideas and feelings.
• Helpful to reach to a better conclusion for the solution of the problem.
• Easy to conduct with less cost and limited facilities except in few extensive formal interview.
• Even illiterate persons can be interviewed and taught.
• Easy to make follow up with the individual interviewee to find out the impact of teaching.

Limitations

• Time consuming
• Difficult to cover wide range of target people with limited manpower.
• Some extensive formal interview may be costly.