Popular health education publications issued by the Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, 1927–1941

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of popular health education publications issued by the School of Public Health from 1927 to 1941. Its aim is to analyse books and brochures intended for a broad audience, examining their bibliographic features, thematic structure, and methods used to convey health education messages to readers. The research is based on the analysis of publications preserved in the holdings of the Andrija Štampar Library, relevant literature, and the contextualisation of the development of health education in Croatia. The paper traces the evolution of health education activities from earlier individual initiatives to a systematically organised model developed within the framework of the School of Public Health. It analyses publications dealing with hygiene, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, malaria, and other public health topics, with particular emphasis on adapting content to a broad and often less-educated readership. Special emphasis was placed on healthy nutrition, as attested by the publication of three cookbooks. In their efforts to encourage the adoption of desirable health and hygiene practices, authors employed a range of approaches, from simple presentations of contemporary scientific knowledge accompanied by patient and well-argued persuasion to stricter approaches and more admonitory modes of addressing readers. Most publications were issued in the 1930–1939 period, and their authors or editors of them were typically physicians. Almost all analysed publications, except for three, were illustrated, which made their recommendations more accessible. The paper demonstrates that the publications of the School of Public Health constituted evidence of a systematic and well-conceived approach to health education, while also serving as an important instrument in the modernisation of health culture and a valuable component of preventive medicine and public health communication in interwar Croatia.