Institutionalization of a Multidisciplinary Healthy Lifestyles Course

Overview & Synopsis

The purpose of health education is to positively influence the health behavior of individuals and communities, as well as living and working conditions that affect health. The goal of a Healthy Lifestyles course that is offered to undergraduate students enrolled in a university general education program (e.g., liberal arts education, core curriculum) is to build fundamental skills and to promote voluntary behavior change activities. As defined by Moore (2006), liberal education is "a philosophy of education that empowers individuals, liberates the mind from ignorance and cultivates social responsibility" because it "provides students broad exposure to multiple disciplines and more in-depth study in at least one field or area of concentration" (p. 46). As much as this definition of liberal education is shared among those in liberal arts education programs and the health education profession alike, it was challenging to convince a group of diverse faculty from multiple programs (arts, sciences, social sciences, etc.) at a public university to approve a new general education course centered around health behaviors. During the past 20 years, the faculty at this public university resisted including a Healthy Lifestyles course in the requirements of the general education curriculum. This article discusses the process used to add a required Healthy Lifestyles course to the general education program. The effects of this innovation and its limitations will be discussed, as will the effects of the course on students. The benefits of including a health education course in the general education program will also be addressed. (Contains 5 tables.)