307 Health Education Intervention Strategies: Recommendations for Future Research Allan Steckler, DrPH John P. Allegrante, PhD David Altman, PhD Richard Brown, PhD James N. Burdine, DrPH Robert M. Goodman, PhD Cynthia Jorgensen, DrPH Allan Steckler is a professor in the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina. John P. Allegrante is a professor in and the director of the Division of Health Services, Sciences and Education, Columbia University. David Altman is an associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, Bowman Gray School of Medicine. Richard Brown is a professor in and the director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, UCLA School of Public Health. James N. Burdine is the CEO of Felix, Burdine and Associates, Inc., Allentown, PA. Robert M. Goodman is an associate professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Education, School of Public Health, University of South Carolina. Cynthia Jorgensen is a health communica- tions research specialist in the Office of the Director of HIV/AIDS at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Address reprint requests to Allan Steckler, DrPH, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, 302 Rosenau Hall, CB 7400, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400; phone: (919) 966-3904, fax: (919) 966-2921. While the ultimate goal of health education interventions is to positively influence health status, more proximal indicators of success are changes in intermediate outcomes, or impact. Because health education interventions work through intermediate outcomes, the linkage to health status is often assumed to be at a conceptual or theoretical level. The term health education intervention strategy is a heuristic device used to conceptualize and organize a large variety of activities. There is a wide range of studies and reports in the literature that either test specific intervention strategies or report on larger health education efforts combining several strategies. This article organizes the discussion to focus on individual-, community-, and policy-level interventions. Mass communications are also considered, and the authors comment on program planning issues that cut across specific interventions at the individual, community, and policy levels. Eleven recommendations are offered for future health education intervention research. PROBLEM, DEFINITIONS, AND ASSUMPTIONS The aim of this article is to identify past successes and directions for future research concerning health education intervention strategies. By intervention strategies we mean ways health education can develop capacity and foster a social environment that enables people and communities to prevent and manage disease. Clearly, when discussing intervention strategies, definitions and operating assumptions must be explored. at COLUMBIA UNIV on November 24, 2015 heb.sagepub.com Downloaded from