Health education
Diffusion of Innovation Theory
It is one of the oldest social science theory that explains the reasons, why, over some time a product or idea gains momentum and spreads through a social system or a particular population. The theory aims to ensure that at the end of the process, the people will adopt a new product, behaviour or a new idea after perceiving it as an innovation. The adoption process does not happen simultaneously; instead, some people are more apt to adopt a new idea than other people (Lien & Jiang, 2017). It is, therefore, essential to understanding the target population characteristics that can hinder or help in the adoption process. The theory is limited by several factors in the adoption of new health behaviours. The theory does not foster a participatory approach when public health programs are being implemented in a social system. Besides, it is more effective in the adoption of health behaviours but is not effective in prevention and cessation of behaviours. Lastly, the theory does not consider social support nor the support from an individual in the adoption of the new behaviour.
Freire’s Model of Adult Education
Freire’s model is used mainly among individuals or populations who are oppressed. The theory utilizes popular and informal education. Informal education depends mostly on the experience of the people and can take place in any setting with the utilization of simple conversation. The popular education used in the model is need-based, and it helps in building on community knowledge. The model has three phases that include naming, reflection and action phase. Besides, the model utilizes dialogue construct whereby there us authentic exchange between the educators and the learners of information concerning real awareness to explore the root cause of behaviour in two-way communication (Dearfield, Barnum & Pugh, 2017). The educators and the learners work together as change agents to achieve the change in unhealthy behaviour. The model faces many limitations that include the social manipulation that causes domestication of people rather than liberating individual facing a health problem. Besides, the lack of neutral words and challenges of social reality increases the biasness of the scientific model.
References
Dearfield, C. T., Barnum, A. J., & Pugh-Yi, R. H. (2017). Adapting Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy for Health Literacy Interventions. Humanity & Society, 41(2), 182-208.
Lien, A. S. Y. & Jiang, Y. D. (2017). Integration of diffusion of innovation theory into diabetes care. Journal of diabetes investigation, 8(3), 259.