Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. The Health Educator: Roles, Responsibilities, Certifications, Advanced Study Chapter 6

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Credentialing – meeting specified standards of credentialing body n Accreditation – evaluation of a professional preparation program n Licensure – agency or government grants permission to practice based on standards (i.e., teachers) n Certification – recognition based predetermined standard of performance (i.e., CHES)

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. History of Role Delineation & Certification n 1974, Helen P. Cleary, SOPHE Pres., found the profession in disarray n 1978, Bethesda Conference on Commonalities & Differences –Questions Commonalities & differences in function? Commonalities & differences in preparation? –Results One profession Credentialing system was necessary National Task Force on the Preparation & Practice of Health Education was born

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. History of Role Delineation & Certification (con’t.) n 1979, role delineation began n 1980, verification and refinement of the role n 1981, Birmingham Conference of academics n Early 1980s, curriculum guide created, later turned into a curriculum framework (responsibilities & competencies)

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. History of Role Delineation & Certification (con’t.) n 1986, 2nd Bethesda Conference to determine if credentialing system should be pursued n 1988, National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. formed to replace Task Force n 1988, Charter certification period began for CHES

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. History of Role Delineation & Certification (con’t.) n 1990, Charter certification ended and first CHES examination was held; now offered twice a year (Oct. & April) n Current criteria to sit for CHES examination –Possess bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree from an accredited institution of higher education; AND 1) an official transcript that clearly shows a major in Health Education; OR 2) an official transcript that reflects 25 semester hrs. (37 quarter hrs.) of coursework with specific preparation addressing the seven responsibilities delineated in the FRAMEWORK

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. History of Role Delineation & Certification (con’t.) n 1992, Joint Committee for Graduate Standards established n 1996, National Congress for Institutions Preparing Graduate Health Educators held in Dallas, TX n 1997, Graduate Standards approved by AAHE & SOPHE

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. History of Role Delineation & Certification (con’t.) n 1998, Competency Update Project (CUP) –Purpose – to determine if role of entry-level health educator still up to date & to continue development of advanced-level competencies n 2004, Final CUP Report –Based on completed questions from 4,000+ health educators; dataset with 1.6 million data points –Recommendations for change

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Program Accreditation n Accreditation defined: “a process by which a recognized body evaluates an entire program against predetermined criteria or standards” (Cleary, 1995) n Accrediting bodies –National Commission for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) –Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) –SOPHE/AAHE Baccalaureate Program Approval Committee (SABPAC)

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Program Accreditation (con’t.) n SOPHE/AAHE National Task Force on Accreditation in Health Education –Accreditation to be the quality assurance mechanism for health education –Unified accreditation system; NCATE & CEPH –Accreditation system to be built on best practices –Graduate programs must assure competency at graduate-level proficiency –New designations; HES, MHES –NCHEC, Inc. to oversee individual credentialing –Work of Task Force shared with others

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. What do health educators do? n The Responsibilities and Competencies for Entry-Level Health Educators was developed from the Framework n Responsibilities – specify scope of practice n Competencies – reflect ability to understand, know, etc. n Sub-competencies – reflect ability to list, describe, etc. n Objectives – reflect ability to perform

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Responsibility I Assessing Individual and Community Needs for Health Education –Priority population –Types of data Primary Secondary

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Responsibility II Planning Effective Health Education Programs – Planning committee – Develop goals & objectives – Create intervention

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Responsibility III Implementing Health Education Programs – Understand priority population – Comfortable with wide range of education methods/techniques – Continue to monitor once up & running

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Responsibility IV Evaluating the Effectiveness of Health Education Programs – Critical top conduct accurate evaluation – Collect, analyze, & interpret data – Use results to modify/improve current or future programs

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Responsibility V Coordinating Provision of Health Education Services – No overlap of services – Facilitate cooperation

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Responsibility VI Acting as a Resource Person in Health Education – Answering questions – Selecting and developing educational resources – Establishing consultive relationships

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Responsibility VII Communicating Health and Health Education Needs, Concerns, and Resources – Good communication skills – Feeling comfortable working with others – Serving as a filter

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Other Needed Knowledge & Skills n Multitasking – skill of coordinating and completing multiple projects at the same time n Technology – comfortable with computers & other technology n Role modeling – important or not?

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Advanced Study in Health Education n Continuing education –Required for CHES n Master’s degree (M.A., M.Ed., M.P.H., M.S., M.S.P.H.) –1-2 yrs to complete n Doctoral degree (D.Ed., Dr.P.H., Ed.D., H.S.D., Ph.D.) –3-4 yrs to complete

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Advanced Study in Health Education (con’t.) n Selecting a graduate school –AAHE’s Directory of Institutions Offering Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Programs in Health Education –CEPH’s web site –Reputation School Program Use the library

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Advanced Study in Health Education (con’t.) n Admission requirements –Undergraduate GPA –Application form, letter of application, & letters of recommendation –Standardized test scores; GRE or MAT

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. Advanced Study in Health Education (con’t.) n Financing a graduate study –Graduate teaching assistantship (TA) –Graduate research assistantship (RA) –Fellowships

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings. The Health Educator: Roles, Responsibilities, Certifications, Advanced Study Chapter 6 – The End