12.1  Planning health education activities

Before you can begin planning your health education activities, you need to have a clear understanding of what planning means. Planning is the process of making thoughtful and systematic decisions about what needs to be done, how it has to be done, by whom, and with what resources. Planning is central to health education and health promotion activities (Box 12.1). If you do not have a plan, it will not be clear to you how and when you are going to carry out necessary tasks. Everyone makes plans — for looking after their family, for cooking, and so on. You can build on experience you already have in planning, and apply it to health education.