Importance of health education research to health education.
OBJECTIVE
To focus on the benefits and importance of research to the practice of health education.


METHODS
The paper discussed the potential of quality research as well as the barriers that keep health educators from using, applying, and sharing their work.


RESULTS
The basic challenges health educators face in translating their research into practice relate to: becoming well-versed in the science base and previous lessons learned; collaborating effectively; and passing on knowledge by mentoring.


CONCLUSIONS
To move forward, health educators need to organize their knowledge and make it accessible. This includes explicit and tacit knowledge, work in progress, and a coordinated research agenda. Finally, health educators need to be flexible so they can enable future research needs.
Gold
R S
RS
Department of Health Education, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA. rg14@umail.umd.edu
Atkinson
N L
NL
D006266:Health Education; D006293:Health Promotion; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services; D007858:Learning; D018581:Technology Transfer; D014481:United States