TABLE 1—
Comparison of Competency Areas and Related Skills for Health Educators
| Part A: Entry-Level Competencies for Health Educators14 |
| 1. Assessing individual and community needs for health education |
| Obtain health-related data about social and cultural environments, growth and development factors, needs, and interests |
| Distinguish between behaviors that foster and those that hinder well-being |
| Infer needs for health education on the basis of obtained data |
| Determine factors that influence learning and development (graduate level) |
| 2. Planning effective health education programs |
| Recruit community organizations, resource people, and potential participants for support and assistance in program planning |
| Develop a logical scope and sequence plan for a health education program |
| Formulate appropriate and measurable program objectives |
| Design education program consistent with specified program objectives |
| Develop health education programs using social marketing principles (graduate level) |
| 3. Implementing health education programs |
| Exhibit competency in carrying out planned programs |
| Infer enabling objectives as needed to implement instructional program in specified settings |
| Select methods and media best suited to implement program plans for specific learners |
| Monitor educational programs and adjust objectives and activities as necessary |
| 4. Evaluating effectiveness of health education programs |
| Develop plans to assess achievement of program objectives |
| Carry out evaluation plans |
| Interpret results of program evaluation |
| Infer implications from findings for future program planning |
| 5. Coordinating provision of health education services |
| Develop a plan for coordinating health education services |
| Facilitate cooperation between and among levels of program personnel |
| Formulate practical modes of collaboration among health agencies and organizations |
| Organize in-service training for teachers, volunteers, and other interested personnel |
| 6. Acting as a resource person in health education |
| Use computerized health information retrieval system effectively |
| Establish effective consultative relationships with those requesting assistance in solving health-related problems |
| Interpret and respond to requests for health information |
| Select effective educational resource materials for dissemination |
| 7. Communicating health and health education needs, concerns, and resources |
| Interpret concepts, purposes, and theories of health education |
| Predict the impact of societal value systems on health education programs |
| Select a variety of communication methods and techniques in providing health information |
| Foster communication between health care providers and consumers |
| Part B: Graduate-Level Competencies for Health Educators15 |
| 8. Applying appropriate research principles and methods in health education |
| Conduct thorough reviews of the literature |
| Use appropriate qualitative and quantitative research methods |
| Apply research to health education practice |
| 9. Administering health education programs |
| Develop and manage fiscal resources |
| Develop and manage human resources |
| Exercise organizational leadership |
| Obtain acceptance and support for programs |
| 10. Advancing the profession of health education |
| Provide a critical analysis of current and future needs in health education |
| Assume responsibility for advancing the profession |
| Apply ethical principles as they relate to the practice of health education |
| Part C: Continuing Education Competencies for the Currently Employed Public Health Education Workforce13 |
| 1. Advocacy |
| Communication skills to work with political officials at various levels of government |
| Integrating multidisciplinary understandings |
| Knowledge of legal boundaries and ramifications |
| Leadership in the legislative process |
| Political analysis and acuity and organizational politics |
| Public policy development and environmental change |
| Strategies to influence key decision makers |
| 2. Business management and finance |
| Budgeting |
| Fiscal management |
| Grant writing |
| Resource development |
| 3. Communication |
| Media advocacy |
| Media relations |
| Social marketing |
| 4. Community health planning and development, coalition building, and leadership |
| Capacity-building skills |
| Community-change strategies and coalition building |
| Community organizing |
| Consultation |
| Ecologic approaches and multiple strategies at multiple levels |
| Organizing natural helpers and community-based lay extenders |
| Skills to support local health planning bodies, facilitation, and decision making |
| 5. Computing and technology |
| Computing literacy |
| Distance learning |
| Electronic communications and access to the World Wide Web |
| 6. Cultural competency |
| Adapting public health education practice to the needs of diverse populations |
| Developing bilingual capacity |
| Understanding the implications for public health of growing racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity and the need for inclusivity |
| 7. Evaluation |
| Assessing and using evidence-based data and other information in designing programs |
| Using quantitative and qualitative methods |
| Defining success and outcomes of health education practice |
| Developing methods that evaluate complex social factors that indicate shifts in health status |
| 8. Strategic planning |
| Community health assessment |
| Environmental forecasting and assessing community readiness and trends |
| Incorporating social change and social justice into the public health system |
| Intersectoral skills |
| Systems analysis |
| Team-building skills |
| Translating theory into practice |
| Part D: Core Competencies for the Current Public Health Workforce11 |
| 1. Public health values and acculturation: provide a basic understanding of public health, its history, its heroes, its value, and its methods |
| 2. Epidemiology, quality assurance, and economics: provide basic skills in evaluative science and concepts, and their application to public health |
| 3. Informatics: provides a basic understanding of how to use technology to communicate information effectively |
| 4. Communication: provides a basic understanding of the principles of effective communication and the importance of communication in educating, marketing, and multidisciplinary collaboration necessary in public health practice |
| 5. Cultural competency: provides a basic understanding of the importance of cultural competency in public health practice |
| 6. Team building and organization effectiveness: provide a basic understanding of teamwork, the principles associated with effective organization, and the value these have in public health practice |
| 7. Strategic thinking and planning/visioning: provide a basic understanding of the tools and value of strategic thinking and visioning to the practice of public health |
| 8. Advocacy, politics, and policy development: provide a basic understanding of how public health policy is developed and changed, including understanding who makes policy, how it is made, what it is based on, and how it is implemented |
| 9. External coalition building and mobilization: provide the skills needed for developing and sustaining needed community relationships |
Note. Graduate-level health education professionals are expected to be competent in each of the 7 areas of responsibility for entry-level professionals.