Week 9 :Discussion: My Future As a Health Educator

Electing to pursue a career where you serve the community through the promotion of health and well-being is a noble cause. In seeking to establish healthy behavior, you will likely encounter both rewarding and challenging experiences. In practice, you will likely implement programs aimed at different populations and in different settings to address various health issues. The strategies and methodologies that you will employ in these different settings will require you to demonstrate your skills as well as uphold the standards of practice as set forth by professional organizations.

For this Discussion, review the Learning Resources for this week. Reflect on where you would like to work as a health educator, including which target population you are most interested in helping. Consider the skills or qualities you believe are most important for health educators to possess when working in this setting or with this population. Then research and select two professional organizations that may provide opportunities for developing the skills and knowledge needed to work in this capacity.

Post a description of where you would like to work as a health educator and explain why. Describe a target setting or population that you are interested in working with and explain which skills or knowledge of health educators are most important for working with this population and setting. Then, describe two professional organizations that may best assist you in developing skills and knowledge to work in this capacity. Be specific and provide examples.

Required readings

Cottrell, R. R., Girvan, J. T., Seabert, D., Spear, C., & McKenzie, J. F. (2018). Principles and foundations of health promotion and education (7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Benjamin Cummings.

• Chapter 7, “The Settings for Health Education/Promotion”
• Chapter 8, “Agencies, Associations, and Organizations Associated With Health Education/Promotion”

American Public Health Association. (2014). Public health and health promotion. Retrieved from https://www.apha.org/apha-communities/member-secti…

Eta Sigma Gamma. (2014). National health education honorary—Home. Retrieved from http://etasigmagamma.org/

Society for Public Health Education. (n.d.). About SOPHE. Retrieved May 13, 2014, from http://sophe.org/about.cfm

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/health-educators.htm
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes211091.htm