The limitations and promise of health education in managed care.
Managed care has become the predominant form of health insurance in the United States. With its features of capitation, provider monetary risk, and population perspective, managed care represents a huge growth opportunity for advocates of disease prevention and health promotion, including those in the field of health education. In reality, however, health education's role has fallen far short of expectations. This article is presented to initiate a dialogue on the role of health education and its subset, worksite health promotion, within managed care. The worksite is emphasized because of its attractiveness as a site in delivering population-based medicine. Furthermore, employers exercise considerable influence in shaping the health care marketplace. A list of recommendations is presented, offering suggestions on what health education needs to do to increase its impact in the managed care movement. These arguments are posed to better position this profession in a changing health care environment.
Department of Health Science, SUNY Brockport, New York 14420, USA. tgolasze@brockport.edu
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D019985:Benchmarking; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D008119:Lobbying; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace