Health Educator

Duties and Responsibilities: Heath educators create programs that encourage health and wellness, and prevent disease. They teach people how to make good health decisions, incorporate healthy activities into their lives and avoid harmful behaviors. They are often responsible for creating and implementing health education programs for the general public, as well as targeting at-risk populations, some of which include diabetes patients, expectant mothers and heart patients. Preparing presentations, conducting health screenings and patient outreach, and serving as point of contact for patients are typical duties. A few other health educator duties include the following listed below:

• Supervising staff.

• Creating health-related materials, such as posters and websites.

• Helping people find the appropriate health services or information.

• Advocating for improved health resources and policies.

• Collecting data and other information to analyze needs and evaluate programs.

• Preparing reports for management and other stakeholders.

Salary: A health educator’s salary is a median annual wage of $59,233. The minimum annual wage of a health educator is $50,259 while the highest is $67,759.

Education: Health educators need a bachelor’s degree. Many employers require the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) credential. Requirements for community health workers vary, although they typically have at least a high school diploma and must complete a brief period of on-the-job training. Some states have certification programs for community health workers.

Add a Picture:

  

Reflection: Do you think you would like to be one? Why? Why not?

I don’t think I would like to be a health educator because it doesn’t really fall under my type of interests, career-wise. I do really find the medical field to be quite fascinating, but I don’t find every single career as interesting as others. A health educator wouldn’t be in my first choice of careers. Frankly, I’m not even sure that I would consider that particular career and option.