Determine whether you agree with the descriptions of each area of responsibility provided by your classmate. Did you have similar initial impressions of the profession?
Did you both come to the same conclusion regarding the role of a health education Carl Miller Assess Needs, assets and capacity for health- In this area of responsibility the way in which a health education specialist assesses needs, assets and capacity may vary slightly based on the demographic being monitored but will ultimately have the same desired effects.
A common-sense approach must be taken to ensure a proper assessment is completed in order to be able to develop a plan that can be effectively implemented. This should take into account all capabilities, seeing what already works, what can be improved upon and what does not exist that should.
For example; A public health specialist that works within an Indian reservation may assess the need to build a program that can properly implement and respect the varying cultural differences based on tribal affiliation.
Plan Health Education- Planning must incorporate all previously acquired assessments and include problems or issues that are strongest within a community.
Utilizing help from local leaders to speak for the people of a particular community. For example; Because it often happens that someone not familiar with specific cultural norms can be placed in this situation and because of naivety or ignorance assessments and ideas to begin planning lack proper cultural implementations. With proper guidance from local leader's areas of the plan that may have originally failed offer greater chances of success.
Implement Health Education- At this point assessments and planning is done. A solid plan for the strategy and implementation of interventions is underway. Health education specialists must understand their audience, what the issues are, and what drives and motivates them. This is all used to get the majority of the population to change their health-related habits. For example; Navajo Nation has a very high prevalence of diabetes.
The specialist must develop a program that targets a younger audience and educates them in regard to poor diet and lack of exercise and preventative measures. Conduct Evaluation and Research- From the initial start and thorough the implementation of the previously developed plan evaluation and research must be conducted to ensure that the end result is the desired result. This can be accomplished by surveys, studies, tests or simply by asking random members of the community what they think or feel.
For example; The United States military conducts annually cohort surveys in order to assess the effectiveness of previously instituted training and guidelines.
Administer and Manage Health Education- Generally speaking your typical health education specialist will not be in charge of this responsibility as it requires a little more experience and advanced skill set. A large portion of this can involve to coordinated efforts of two or more organizations working together or side by side and any variety of capacity.
For example; In my hometown in Michigan developed a bus riding program to enable poor or at-risk families access to all parts of the city where medical facilities, grocery stores, schools are all located. This required the coordination of the health specialists, department of transportation and county and city councils. Serve as A Health Resource Person- As a health specialist you will get asked a lot of question (most generally out of your scope of practice). However, because people rely on the health specialist and generally trust what they must say, they must possess the ability to find information they do not know.
For example; In my current position, I would be considered the health education specialist. I have many years of emergency trauma training, advance cardiac life support training etc. However, I am frequented with questions about a pregnant spouse, or a relative with acute pancreatitis and so on. It is not critical to my duties or my job, but I ensure that I have the necessary access to the necessary information to retrieve answers to questions that are asked.
Communicate and Advocate for Health- Simply put, the time effort and energy put into developing and continuing through all of these responsibilities has a purpose. The specialist knows this and must be able to communicate and advocate effectively for what they believe in. Whatever the platform of the day, it must be understood and utilized to this end.
For example; many education health specialists have twitter, Facebook, blogs, vlogs, attend charity events, community events, seminars, interviews etc. this shows the absolute requirement to be able to target any audience using whatever platform they prefer. The roles and responsibilities are generally the same to me now as they were before.