It’s a good idea to wear a seatbelt.
You should try to get daily exercise.
These things may seem like common sense now, but at one point, they were health topics that we needed to be educated about.
In fact, we are able to live healthier and safer lives because of health education and promotion programs. It’s a vital field, even if it’s one not everyone knows a lot about. To give you more insight, here’s a deeper look.
Health Education and Promotion Puts Health Knowledge to Work
Have you ever read a medical journal, a study on public safety, or any other research findings? They’re almost always written for other experts, not for the population at large. In other words, they need a translator—professionals who can take health and safety knowledge and turn it into everything from government policy to posters at bus stops.
Health education and promotion is the bridge between what experts learn about health and safety and how we use that knowledge as a society. Health educators and others in the field are skilled at analyzing the biological, social, political, cultural, environmental, and behavioral factors that impact individual and population health. And they’re skilled at using that health data to assess a given community’s need for health education (i.e., determining gaps in public knowledge); developing plans, programs, and other ways to implement health education and policy; determining the right communication strategies for informing populations of specific health risks/solutions; and evaluating the effectiveness of health programs and policy, with the intent of improving them where needed. While no one person within the health education and promotion field does all of this, the field as a whole provides a wide range of services.
Health Education and Promotion Is Needed in a Lot of Settings
Given the multiple ways that the health education and promotion field can impact the lives of communities, it should be no surprise that health educators and other health education and promotion professionals work in a variety of settings.
Careers in public health and education include positions with community health agencies, state and local health departments, schools and universities, businesses and corporations, faith-based organizations, hospitals and clinics, and nonprofit organizations, including those focused on global health education programs. In addition to serving as health educators for specific organizations and populations, common responsibilities for those in the health education and promotion field include preparing for and responding to emergencies, designing and advocating for health-related policy, writing grants, leading public health departments and nonprofits, and using social entrepreneurship to enact social change and improve the health of at-risk communities.
Health Education and Promotion Is a Growing Field
A growing and aging population coupled with an increased focus on improving public health (e.g., the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People initiative)1 is driving growth in the health education and promotion field. According to estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of jobs for health educators and community health workers will increase by 17% between 2020 and 2030 a rate that’s much faster than average.2
You Can Make Health Education and Promotion Your Career
Because health education and promotion is focused on helping communities both large and small, it can be a rewarding career. If you want to become a leader in the field—or if you work in a public health job and want to take steps to improve your career prospects—you should consider earning an MS in Health Education and Promotion.
You can earn a master’s in health education and promotion online with Walden University. As a student in Walden’s online master’s in health education and promotion program, you won’t have to commute to a campus or interrupt your career to advance your education. Instead, you can take advantage of an online learning format that allows you to complete coursework from anywhere you have internet access. Plus, you have the flexibility to attend class at the time of day that works best for your lifestyle.
We need health education leaders capable of working to improve local and world health. With Walden’s MS in Health Education and Promotion program, you can prepare to become one of those in-demand leaders.
Walden University is an accredited institution offering an MS in Health Education and Promotion degree program online. Expand your career options and earn your degree in a convenient, flexible format that fits your busy life.
1 Source: www.healthypeople.gov
2 Source: www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/health-educators.htm
Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, www.hlcommission.org.