1

Defining the Role of the Health Education

Specialist

2

Overview of this Module• What is the Need for the Health

Education Specialist?• Establishing the Legitimacy of Health

Promotion and Education• Healthy People 2010 Goals• Patient Educator: An Example of a

Health Education Specialist• Misconceptions About Health Education• Responsibilities of a Health Educator• How are Health Educators Doing?• Summary

3

What is the Need for the Health Education Specialist?

• There is a growing disillusionment with the limits of medicine

• There are pressures to contain high medical care costs

• There exists a social and political climate that emphasizes self-help and individual control over health

4

Establishing the Legitimacy of Health Promotion and Education• Health promotion and education were

given official recognition with the Surgeon General's Healthy People reports

• These reports addressed the notion that individuals play an important part in modifying behaviors to sustain or improve their health

5

Healthy People 2010 Goals

• Life Expectancy

• Quality of Life

6

Healthy People 2010 Goals

• To have individuals gain the knowledge, motivation, and opportunities they need to make informed decisions about their health.

• Local and State leaders to develop communitywide and statewide efforts that promote healthy behaviors, create healthy environments, and increase access to high-quality health care.

• Because individual and community health are virtually inseparable, both the individual and the community need to do their parts to increase life expectancy and improve quality of life.

7

Exercise

Based upon last week’s discussion write one objective for Healthy People 2010’s Life Expectancy goal and one for Healthy People 2010’s Quality of Life goal.

8

Patient Educator: An Example of a Health Education Specialist

• Patient education is an expanding and evolving field and is now recognized as an essential component of health care

• Patient education programs are among the fastest growing components of health care in the United States

• Expanding from 50 hospitals with a patient education program in 1970 to the present, when virtually every health institution has some type of patient education program

9

Healthy People 2010 Focus Areas

• Access to Quality Health Services• Arthritis, Osteoporosis, and

Chronic Back Conditions• Cancer• Chronic Kidney Diseases• Diabetes• Disability and Secondary

Conditions• Educational and Community-

Based Programs• Environmental Health• Family Planning• Food Safety• Health Communication• Heart Disease and Stroke• HIV

• Immunization and Infectious Diseases

• Injury and Violence Prevention• Maternal, Infant, and Child Health• Medical Product Safety• Mental Health and Mental Disorders• Nutrition and Overweight• Occupational Safety and Health• Oral Health• Physical Activity and Fitness• Public Health Infrastructure• Respiratory Diseases• Sexually Transmitted Diseases• Substance Abuse• Tobacco Use• Vision and Hearing

10

11

Leading Health Indicators

• Physical activity 

• Overweight and obesity 

• Tobacco use 

• Substance abuse

• Responsible sexual behavior

•Mental health •Injury and violence•Environmental quality•Immunization •Access to health care

12

There are many misconceptions about health

education and the role of health educators

13

Misconception #1: Health Education is the Transference of

Knowledge

• Studies suggest that knowledge about an illness may be necessary, but not sufficient, for improving health.

• Educational programs are not efficacious in achieving long-term improvement unless they also promote changes in attitude and motivation.

14

Misconception #2: Health Care Professionals Who Teach Patients are Educators.

• Although many people teach health care concepts, many of them are not prepared with the skills to provide health education properly

• Many of these individuals claim that they provide education, often they are simply providing information

15

Misconception #3: Health educators are the experts, and patients should defer to them.

• Both educators and patients are the experts. • Educators have the expertise in specific content

and the clinical aspects of the disease. • However, patients are the experts in their own

life. • They know what they will do with the information

provided and if and how it will be incorporated into their lifestyle

16

Misconception #4: Health educators are responsible for

patients' learning and achieving outcomes.

17

Misconception #5: If a comprehensive health education

program is provided, patients will come because it is in their

best interests.

18

What Is Health Education?

• Health education is any combination of learning experiences designed to facilitate voluntary adaptations of behavior or sustain behavior conducive to health.

• Health educators are the individuals who facilitate the learning experiences that are designed to enable and reinforce the behavior conducive to health in individuals, groups, or communities.

19

What Does Health Education Hope to Accomplish?

• Learning that involves a process of transforming new knowledge, insights, skills, and values into new behavior.

• Incorporating the teaching-learning process and behavioral strategies to encourage individuals to make voluntary adaptations conducive to health.

20

How are the Health Educators Responsibilities Determined?

• As a result of the Role Delineation Project for Health Education specific duties have been identified.

• Based on the Role Delineation Project, a curriculum, which includes a framework of seven responsibilities and competencies for entry-level health educators, has been developed.

• These seven responsibilities are for both community and individual health education.

21

Responsibility I. Assessing Individual and Community Needs

for Health Education

Standard I: Assessment. The diabetes educator should conduct a thorough, individualized needs assessment. Standard II: Use of resources. The diabetes educator should strive to create an educational setting conducive to learning, with adequate resources to facilitate the learning process.

22

Responsibility II. Planning Effective Health Education

Programs

Standard III: Planning. The written educational plan should be developed from information obtained on the needs assessment and based on the components of the educational process. The plan is coordinated with other members of the team.

23

Responsibility III. Implementing Health Education Programs

Standard IV: Implementation. The diabetes educator should provide individualized education based on a progression from basic survival skills to advanced information for self-management.

24

Responsibility IV. Evaluating Effectiveness of Health

Education Programs

Standard V: Documentation. The diabetes educator should completely and accurately document the educational experience.

Standard VI: Evaluation and outcome. The diabetes educator should participate in an annual review of the quality and outcome of the education process.

25

Responsibility V. Coordinating Provision of

Health Education Services

Standard VII: Multidisciplinary collaboration. The diabetes educator should collaborate with the multidisciplinary team of health care professionals and integrate their knowledge and skills to provide a comprehensive educational experience.

26

Responsibility VI. Acting as a Resource Person in Health

Education

Standard VIII: Creation of a repository of educational materials that are current and appropriate to the target population.

27

Responsibility VII. Communicating Health and

Needs, Concerns, and Resources

• Standard IX: Professional development. The diabetes educator should assume responsibility for professional development and pursue continuing education to acquire current knowledge and skills.

28

The Content Knowledge Required to be a Diabetes Health Educator

• Pathophysiology of diabetes • Nutrition • Pharmacological interventions • Exercise • Self-monitoring of blood glucose • Prevention and management of acute and chronic

complications • Psychosocial adjustment • Problem-solving skills • Stress management • Use of the health care delivery system

29

What Does a Diabetes Health Educator Do?

• Assessment

• Planning

• Implementation of the plan

• Documentation of the process

• Evaluation based on outcome criteria

30

Short Term Benefits of National Certification of Health Educators • Attests to the individual's knowledge and skills • Assists employers to identify qualified

professionals • Helps assure consumers of the validity of the

service • Enhances the profession • Delineates the scope of practice • Provides recognition of individual practitioners • Facilitates geographic mobility of qualified

individuals

31

Long Term Benefits of National Certification of Health Educators• Salary scales commensurate with skills

and responsibilities

• Strengthening of professional preparation

• Organized system of continuing education

• Promotion of the value of the skills of health education specialists

32

Leading Health Indicators

How Has Health Education Done?

33

Physical Activity

34

Overweight and Obesity Overweight and obesity, United States, 1988–94

Overweight and obesity, United States, 1988–94

                                                                                                                  

35

Tobacco Use

Cigarette smoking, United States, 1990–99

                                                                                                                                          

36

Substance Abuse

Use of alcohol and/or illicit drugs, United States, 1994–98

                                                                                                                                            

37

Responsible Sexual Behavior1995 and 1999

38

HIV/AIDS

• About one-half of all new HIV infections in the United States are among people under age 25 years, and the majority are infected through sexual behavior.

• HIV infection is the leading cause of death for African American men aged 25 to 44 years.

• Compelling worldwide evidence indicates that the presence of other STDs increases the likelihood of both transmitting and acquiring HIV infection.

39

Mental Health

40

Injury and ViolenceMotor vehicle deaths and homicides, United States, 1998

41

Summary• The U.S. health establishment is moving

toward illness prevention and health promotion

• The health educator has the opportunity to be an important player in the delivery of future health services

• Meeting the health education competencies and becoming certified are two immediate steps that the undergraduate health education student can take to prepare for this professional role