Activities	Promote, maintain, and improve individual and community health by helping people and communities adopt healthy behaviors. Collect and analyze data to identify community needs before planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programs designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, policies, and environments.
Outlook	Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income	$41,330 per year in 2006
Work Context & Conditions	Usually work indoors. The job requires a lot of sitting and being in contact with others, e.g., face-to-face, telephone, or e-mail. They must be very exact and highly accurate.
Minimum Education Requirements	Master's Degree
Skills	Active Listening, Writing, Active Learning, Judgment and Decision Making, Coordination, Reading Comprehension, Speaking
Abilities	Oral Expression, Written Comprehension, Speech Clarity
Interviews	Frank GrayShield

Job Category		Community & Social Services
Job Description		According to the AAHE, "health education is a social science that draws from the biological, environmental, psychological, physical, and medical sciences to promote health and prevent disease, disability and premature death through education-driven voluntary behavior change activities. It is the development of individual, group, institutional, community, and systemic strategies to improve health knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behavior. The purpose of health education is to positively influence the health behavior of individuals and communities as well as the living and working conditions that influence their health." Health Educators plan and provide educational opportunities for health personnel and collaborate with health specialists and civic groups to determine community health needs and availability of services, and to develop goals. Some health educators promote health discussions in schools, industry, and community agencies and disseminate educational and informational materials. They may also conduct community surveys to determine health needs and availability of professional health services, and to develop desirable health goals. Health educators serve as a resource to help individuals, other professionals, or the community, and may administer fiscal resources for health education programs.
Working Conditions		Usually work indoors. The job requires a lot of sitting and being in contact with others, e.g., face-to-face, telephone, or e-mail. They must be very exact and highly accurate.
Salary Range		Median annual earnings of health educators were $41,330 in 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $31,300 and $56,580. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $24,750, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $72,500.

Education Required		Entry level health educator positions generally require a bachelor’s degree in health education. Over 250 colleges and universities offer bachelor’s programs in health education or a similarly titled major. These programs teach students the theories of health education and develop the skills necessary to implement health education programs. Courses in psychology, human development, and a foreign language are helpful, and experience gained through an internship or other volunteer opportunities can make graduates more appealing to employers. Graduate health education programs are often offered under titles such as community health education, school health education, or health promotion and lead to a Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Education, or a Master of Public Health degree. Many students pursue their master’s in health education after majoring or working in another related field, such as nursing or psychology. A master’s degree is required for most health educator positions in public health. A graduate degree is usually required to advance past an entry level position to jobs such as executive director, supervisor, or senior health educator. These positions may spend more time on planning and evaluating programs than on their implementation, but may require supervising other health educators who implement the programs. Health educators at this level may also work with other administrators of related programs. Some health educators pursue a doctoral degree in health education and may transfer to research positions or become professors of health education. Once hired, on-the-job training for health educators varies greatly depending on the type and size of employer. State and local public health departments and other larger offices may have a formal training program, while smaller health education offices and departments may train new employees through less formal means, such as mentoring or working with more experienced staff. Some employers may require and pay for educators to take continuing education courses to keep their skills up-to-date.
Recommended High School Courses		Computers and Electronics, Biology, Mathematics, English, Chemistry, Communications, Health
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Psychology, Administration and Management, Therapy and Counseling, Communications and Media, Sales and Marketing, Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, Education and Training, English Language
Certification and Licensing		Health educators may choose to become a Certified Health Education Specialist, a credential offered by the National Commission of Health Education Credentialing, Inc. The certification is awarded after passing an examination on the basic areas of responsibility for a health educator. The exam is aimed at entry level educators who have already completed a degree in health education or are within 3 months of completion. In addition, to maintain certification, health educators must complete 75 hours of approved continuing education courses or seminars over a 5-year period. Some employers prefer to hire applicants who are certified and some States require health educators certification to work in a public health department.

Interest Area		Social Involves working and communicating with, helping, and teaching people.
Work Values		Achievement Get a feeling of accomplishment. Social Service Do things for other people. Working Conditions Good working conditions.
Skills		Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Writing Communicate effectively with others in writing as indicated by the needs of the audience. Active Learning Work with new material or information to grasp its implications. Judgment and Decision Making Be able to weigh the relative costs and benefits of a potential action. Coordination Adjust actions in relation to others' actions. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information.
Abilities		Oral Expression Able to convey information and ideas through speech in ways that others will understand. Written Comprehension Able to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. Speech Clarity Able to speak clearly so listeners understand.

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Job Outlook		Employment of health educators is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations and job prospects are expected to be favorable. Growth will result from the rising cost of health care and the increased recognition of the need for qualified health educators. The emphasis on health education has been coupled with a growing demand for qualified health educators. In the past, it was thought that anyone could do the job of a health educator and the duties were often given to nurses or other healthcare professionals. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that there are 62,000 employed as health educators in the year 2006.
More Information		American Association for Health Education
References		Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Handbook, 2008-2009 Edition, Health Educators, on the internet at: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos063.htm O*NET OnLine, on the Internet at http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/21-1091.00