UNDERSTANDING THE CATEGORY OF HEALTH, MEDICAL COMPETENCE AND SANITARY EDUCATION IN ADULT EDUCATION IN GERMAN-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

Abstract

In this article is highlighted the research results by the project VEGA č. 1/0293/21 «Teaching health to different categories of adults». This research is focusing on the concept of health, medically sanitary competence and medically sanitary education in German-speaking countries, including Austria and Germany. The main purpose of this article is to analyze a content of medically sanitary competence and health, as well as to determine the specifics of medical and sanitary education of adults in German-speaking countries. Also, in this article was described the content and components of medically sanitary education, sanitary education and health education. The main starting points for understanding the mentioned categories are: adult orientation to health as opposed to disease orientation, orientation to subjects with their interests and needs in their social and environmental context as opposed to expert orientation, multifactor understanding of health as a personality trait, orientation to everyday life and strengthening the effective competencies of adults, which traditionally includes social training, self-determination regarding health and self-help with illness. It is proved that understanding of health, medically sanitary competence and sanitary education is differentiated both on theoretical principles and in terms of their implementation in specific conditions, in particular the medical institution itself. It has been established that leading Austrian and German experts pay considerable attention to determine a relationship between medical literacy, health competence and a person’s behavior in maintaining their own health. It is proved that in German-speaking countries, significant attention is also paid to non-formal medical education and informal adult studying. The creation of recommendations for organizations of medical education and medically sanitary education of adult citizens is promising.