Characteristics of Effective Health Education Society for Public Health Education

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Characteristics Introduction: The Characteristics of Effective Health Education Curricula

Characteristic 1: Focuses on clear health goals and related behavioral outcomes

Characteristic 2: Provides functional health knowledge that is basic, accurate, and directly contributes to health-promoting decisions and behaviors

Characteristic 3: Focuses on reinforcing protective factors and increasing perceptions of personal risk and harmfulness of engaging in specific unhealthy practices and behaviors 

Characteristic 4: Addresses personal values, attitudes, and beliefs

Characteristic 5: Uses strategies designed to engage students

Characteristic 6: Addresses social pressures and influences

Characteristic 7: Builds personal competence, social competence, and self-efficacy by addressing skills

Characteristic 8: Provides opportunities to reinforce skills and positive health behaviors

Characteristic 9: Addresses individual and group norms that support health-enhancing behaviors

Characteristic 10: Provides age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate information, learning strategies, teaching methods, and materials

Characteristic 11: Incorporates learning strategies, teaching methods, and materials that are culturally inclusive

Characteristic 12: Provides opportunities to make positive connections with influential others

Characteristic 13: Includes teacher information and plans for professional development and training that enhance effectiveness of instruction and student learning

Characteristic 14: Provides adequate time for instruction and learning

Characteristic 15: Is research based and theory driven