Health Education and Youth: Whose Responsibility?

This paper looks at some of the assumptions and motivations found to underlie different examples of health education studied over the course of three research projects looking at the health service itself, schools, and the media. Results from these studies indicate that in practice health education proceeds most successfully on a number of fronts simultaneously. It is suggested that research and planning should not only allow for, but encourage, such diverse implementation. This is based upon recognition of the need to reflect recent approaches to behavioural research by considering a broad spectrum of influences interacting with the belief and knowledge systems of the individual. A possible framework for the development of health education programmes which could recognize complementary activities and a variety of health educators is put forward.