Health education: what can it look like after health care reform? 1993 SOPHE presidential address.

In the fall of 1993 the plans for the Health Security Act were unveiled: health education was referenced no fewer than 18 times. This 1993 SOPHE Presidential Address examines the role of health education under the plans for and principles of health care reform. As Bill Clinton stated, "an intensified health education system must be designed to educate and encourage the American people to change behavior that results in ill health and high costs." It is argued that health education has been demonstrated to be effective at reducing risk behaviors associated with each of the leading causes of death. Likewise health education should, can, and does play a role in each of the health goals and objectives for the year 2000. Health reform provides new opportunities to invest in prevention, public health and health education--not only in medical care settings--but in schools, at worksites, and in the community. Health education in these settings can help create supportive environments that make healthy choices the easy choices, ensuring that health reform can succeed.