Importance of health education research to health education

Objective: To focus on the benefits and importance of research to the pract ice of health education. Methods: The paper discussed the potential of qual ity research as well as the barriers that keep health educators from using, applying, and sharing their work. Results: The basic challenges health edu cators face in translating their research into practice relate to: becoming well-versed in the science base and previous lessons learned; collaboratin g effectively; and passing on knowledge by mentoring. Conclusions: To move forward, health educators need to organize their knowledge and make it acce ssible. This includes explicit and tacit knowledge, work in progress, and a coordinated research agenda. Finally, health educators need to be flexible so they can enable future research needs.