The Significance of Health Care Education

Before we come to the practice of health care education, we must know the principles involved. Health care education brings together the art and science of medicine along with the principles and practice of general education. The link is to be found in the social and behavioral sciences which include sociology, psychology and social anthropology.

Health care education can not be 'given' to one person by another. It involves, among other things, the teaching, learning and inclusion of habits concerned with the objective of healthy living.

The definition adopted by World Health Organization in 1969 and the Alma Ata declaration adopted in 1978 provide a useful basis for formulating the aims and objectives of health care education that may be described as -

o To promote the proper use of healthcare service available to the general people.

o To encourage them to adopt and maintain health promoting lifestyle and practices.

o To develop interest, endow with newer knowledge, improve skills and change attitudes in making rational decisions to solve their own problems

o To stimulate the individual and community self-reliance and participation to achieve health development through individual and community involvement at every step from identifying problems to solving them.

The educational objectives are aimed to the group to be taught in the health care educational program. The objectives flow from the health needs which have been discovered or invented. They should be carefully and unambiguously defined in terms of knowledge to be acquired, behavior to be to be acquired or actions to be mastered. They must be pertinent if the program is to be appropriate and successful.

The focus of health education is on people and on action. Its goal is to make realistic improvements in the basic quality of life. Many health education programs hope, in some way, to influence behavior or attitudes. The implication of these newer concepts is that health care education is an integral part of the national health goals. The fact remains that effective health education has the potential for saving many lives than has any one research discovery in the foreseeable future.

We all know that 'Prevention is better than cure'. Health care education will bring us the knowledge how we can prevent the disease before it surfaces in any individual. In the US, more than 130 billion dollars are spent last year to treat the patients suffering from diseases. By paying one fifth of the amount, incidence of many fatal diseases can be prevented. The surplus amount can be spent to another developmental work for the society.

Healthcare educating will make the standard of living better. Therefore, the status of a particular society will be lifted up. Better habitation, living, education, trade will make us a better human being. This is particularly important for the developing countries where there is not enough money to spend treating diseases through modern approach. It is always better to spend some money to healthcare education in order to lift the level of health consciousness among the common people.

Education Loans - The Financial Tools For a Bright Future

Till a few years back higher education from quality institutions was not affordable to some well deserved students because of the economic constraints. So there was not any alternative except to enter the job market quite prematurely. All this meant untimely ending of many a budding talents and the consequent forced transformation into the mediocrity. Although some scholarships were available, but these were so few in numbers that only the luckiest few could get them.

But presently the scene has changed quite drastically. The boom and rise in the banking industry has resulted in the release of big amounts of funds for education purpose. Consequently the education borrowings are very easily available from various banking institutes in India and this positive change is encouraging and supporting more and more students to go for higher education despite their money shortcomings. Most of the nationalized banks have now various educational loan plans which the students can benefit from.

Going with the modernist trends in the banking sector, even private sector banks are not lagging behind. This wave of change can be well judged from the amusing circumstances that immediately emerged after the results of CAT JEE or PMT/ IIT JEE were announced. Several representatives of the banks queued up for providing student education loans to the successful candidate on very flexible terms and conditions. This spectacle is certainly supporting the promising students to pursue their dreams of higher education and realize their life-long goals. On the internet one can find a big list of name of the banks along with the details regarding several educational loan plans given by them.

Now one can avail loans up to Rs.10 Lakhs for pursuing education inside India and up to Rs.20 Lakhs for studying abroad at very attractive interest rates. More interestingly, the repayment starts one year after the course is completed or six months after getting employment-- whichever is earlier. These loans are available for a tenure of up to seven years which includes the moratorium period. To make them really feasible economic options, several tax Benefits are available under Section 80E of the IT Act. Apart from this these are hassle free forms of finances available at speedy approvals. The completion in the loan industry ensures that you get all the convenience of services at virtually your doorstep. Further, loans available for many other course-related expenses as well.

One can choose from Bank's approved and selected list of Institutes at special privileges. In most of the cases, education loans disbursed straight away to the educational institutions. To ensure that the borrowings are utilized properly, the funds are released as per the fee schedules of the institutes. For those studying abroad, exclusive Telegraphic Transfer facilities are available.

Education loan portfolio of our banking institutions witnessed a growth rate of about 30-40 per cent in 2007-08. On a more promising note it is all set to see a growth of around 40 per cent in 2008-09. The bankers credit the healthy growth rate in this sector to the ever-increasing demand among the students and the smaller number of non-performing assets in the segment. In fact the banks have devised various loan schemes to facilitate the growth of the education loan part of their total liabilities. In addition to taking steps like tying up with various institutes and giving interest rate discounts, they are also according online prompt sanctions to ensure speedy disbursal of the amount.