Health Education in Europe – past, present and future

By Louise Warwick-Booth and Peter Aggleton

Health Education Journal (HEJ) recently published a special collection of papers focused on health education in Europe – past, present and future.

The journal has long published research, short reports and commentary about health education as it relates to individuals, populations, groups and communities.

First published in 1943, HEJ is one of the oldest and most reputable publications in the field. As editors, we have worked on the journal for nearly a decade now. We are passionate about supporting papers that showcase high quality research in the field, to better understand the complex relationship between education and health.

Education remains vitally important for health, especially given the many challenges facing us today. Numerous health wellbeing inequalities have to be to addressed and there is the ever pressing need to achieve a sustainable future. The legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic serves as a reminder to us all about the need for health education at moments of crisis, with increasing demand for healthcare and education across Europe. Challenges abound, but there are opportunities too, the ongoing development of new technology serves to help us in our educational endeavours.

The research we publish shows how health education can be of benefit throughout the life course. Both personally and professionally, we can always learn from experience from others and from other countries. In recent years Health Education Journal has published many papers from across Europe, and we want to continue doing so. We produced this virtual special issue, to draw attention to some of the best papers already published. We chose papers from different European countries (Italy, England, the Netherlands and Norway), focusing on two main themes: schools as a setting for health education, and the role of professionals in contributing to health education work.

Included under the first theme are papers on food education for healthy choices; young people’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; physical activity; and comprehensive sexuality education. Two additional papers present research on school-based responses to COVID-19 in Italy and England. Moving to consider the role of professionals in health education, a collection of articles focus on topics as diverse as breastfeeding support, street theatre, health warnings on cigarettes, and online training for infection prevention.

Working together to produce this virtual special edition provided a great opportunity to remind ourselves about the interesting work taking place within the field. Health education in Europe continues to evolve, and the approaches taken vary dramatically across contexts. One of the most exciting features of the field is the diversity of disciplines represented within it. HEJ sees this as a strength and one that should be built upon in the future.

We hope that you are keen to read more and consider contributing yourself, stimulated to do so by this free-to-access virtual collection (https://journals.sagepub.com/topic/collections-hej/hej-1-health_education_in_europe_past_present_and_future/hej)

Beyond it, you will find the journal’s most read articles here (https://journals.sagepub.com/home/hej#focusMostRead) and some of our most cited publications here (https://journals.sagepub.com/action/showMostCitedArticles?journalCode=heja).

Please join us as we continue to showcase work in Europe and further afield (https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/HEJ).

EXPLORE THE SPECIAL COLLECTION

About the Authors

Featured

Peter Aggleton holds senior professorial positions at UNSW Sydney, The Australian National University in Canberra, and UCL in London. He has worked internationally in health and education for over 40 years, with a special interest in sexual and reproductive health as well as health education pedagogy and practice. An experienced journal editor, Peter also edits several book series, including Foundations and Futures of Education for Routledge. He has been associated with Health Education since the 1990s and currently serves as the journal’s editor-in-chief.

Louise is a Reader and associate director of the Centre for Health Promotion Research at Leeds Beckett University, UK, where she undertakes research and teaches on a range of courses including health policy, community health and global health. Louise’s research interests are diverse and include the evaluation of health promotion interventions with vulnerable populations, including women experiencing domestic abuse. She has published several textbooks such as Social Inequality: A Student’s Guide, 3rd Edition (SAGE 2022) and Contemporary Health Studies: An Introduction 2nd Edition (Polity Press 2021, with Ruth Cross and Diane Lowcock). Louise has been an associate editor of Health Education Journal since 2015.