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On the importance of planned health education

Prevention of ski injury as an example

Department of Health Education, University of Limburg, the Netherlands

Lex M. Bouter, PhD

Department of Epidemiology and Health Care Research, University of Limburg, the Netherlands

The planning of health education aimed at preventing sports injuries is often incomplete and not stated ex plicitly. In most instances, the evaluation is incomplete or nonexistent. We present a theoretical framework for planning and evaluating health education, illustrating the main points by using as an example the health education for downhill skiers. Systematic planning con sists of analyzing the magnitude of the problem and the behavioral risk factors, studying behavior determi nants, designing an optimal intervention, and imple menting the intervention. The evaluation phase deals with the effects on these five levels (implementation, intervention, determinants, behavior, and incidence of injury). Some common pitfalls are mentioned and spe cial attention is given to the study of determinants of behavior and to the design of the intervention. The importance of pretesting health education material and the community approach in educating sports partici pants is underlined. Health education, together with regulations and facilities, constitutes the health pro motion strategy in the prevention of sports injuries. For most sports, there seems to be a strong need for further research on the etiology and determinants of behavior before effective prevention can be realized.

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