TABLE 1—
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.