Health promotion is linked strongly to public health, expect in health promotion the main aim is to educate the defined community on the illness and diseases that it is likely to face as well as on how to prevent such illnesses and diseases and how to go about dealing with those illnesses and diseases should they in fact arise in that community. To become a public health official who specializes in health awareness, education, and promotion, a master’s degree in public health is generally a requirement, but this depends on the community you would like to work in.
Governmental Health Promotion In The United States
Health promotion can occur at both a governmental as well as at a private level. According to wikipedia.org the following are government agencies in the United States concerned with health promotion:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a Coordinating Center for Health Promotion who mission is “Prevent disease, improve health, and enhance human potential through evidence based interventions and research in maternal and child health, chronic disease, disabilities, genomics, and hereditary disorders”.
- The United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine “provide[s] worldwide technical support for implementing preventive medicine, public health, and health promotion/wellness services into all aspects of America’s Army and the Army Community”.
Non-Governmental Health Promotion In The United States
In addition to the above-mentioned governmental organizations that promote health awareness, there are also a number of non-governmental organizations offering a similar service. According to wikipedia.org the following are nongovernmental organizations in the United States concerned with health promotion:
- The Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section is an active component of the American Public Health Association.
- The Wellness Council of America is an industry trade group that supports workplace health promotion programs.
- URAC accredits comprehensive wellness programs “that focus on health promotion, chronic disease prevention and health risk reduction”.
What this means is that you can seek employment in a government institute in the area of health promotion as well as in a nongovernmental organization. In short you have a number of career options.
Careers In Health Promotion
Natural Health Consultant
A natural health consultant is one that educates people on health alternatives to modern medicine. These alternatives include things like:
- Chiropractic therapy
- Nutrition
- Acupuncture
A natural health consultant begins by evaluating the symptoms and health concerns of a patient and then drawing up an appropriate treatment planning for addressing those symptoms and concerns. In addition to this natural health consultants are also active in providing information about alternative medicine options.
Educational requirements: bachelor’s degrees in areas such as naturopathy, nutrition, natural health or herbal science are necessary for a career in this line of work.
Certifications (optional): obtainable through the National Association of Certified Natural Health Professionals
Salary: $51,000 a year (but this amount is subject to unpredictable fluctuations)
Health Educator
This aspect of health promotion involves physically educating patients individually or in groups about how to stay fit and well after speaking with them and assessing them in order to determine their needs and the areas in which they could use further instruction about issues related to caring for their health. The main aims are to:
- Prevent injuries
- Prevent medical conditions
- Prevent potential health problems
Educational requirements: at least a bachelor’s degree in health education, although those with master’s degrees in health education are preferred when seeking most heath educator positions or when seeking advancement.
Certifications (optional): obtainable from the National Commission of Health Education Credentialing, increases employment opportunities
Salary: $49,060 a year (subject to fluctuations on the basis of several factors)
Dietitian
Nutrition can be used to prevent diseases as well as to prevent unnecessary weight gain. A dietician is someone who educates patients about what they should be eating and drinking in order to be as healthy as possible for as much time as possible. The main jobs of a dietician are:
- To create meal plans for patients who need advice on what to eat and when
- In some cases a dietician may oversee the actual preparation of meals
Dieticians go further than just simply giving you advice on what you should do to lose weight. These days we mostly associate ‘diet’ with ‘weight loss’, but your diet is more than that.
Educational requirements: at least a bachelor’s degree in an area such as nutrition or dietetics
Salary: $44,900 to $55,400 a year (subject to fluctuations on the basis of several factors)
Counselor
This is a career that you can pursue in health promotion and involves one-on-one work with individuals. Health counselors work with specific individuals who are experiencing health problems and help them in planning strategies to remain fit and disease-free. Often, health counselors will be assigned to a group that is at an increased risk of contracting illnesses, such as AIDS patients or the elderly. Rather than formulate programs for the community, counselors help educate individuals, informing them of relevant information and answering all questions. Thus, being a health promotion counselor is different to being a community health specialist in that you will deal with specific individuals rather than specific groups of people.
Communications Specialist
A communications specialist in health promotion is someone who’s primary job it is to develop ways of effectively disseminating information about health promotion to as many people as possible within the target population. There are a number of different methods through which this can be achieved, some of which are obviously more suitable for certain situations than others. Some of the methods that can be used to communicate health information at a large scale are the following:
- Personal communication
- Electronic communication
- Print communication
- Mass media
An example of communications in health promotion is spreading information about condoms and where to get them in order to stop the spread of the Aids epidemic we can see in most countries.
Journalist
This is a career in health promotion that does not necessarily require a medical qualification, although a medical qualification would be extremely helpful. Journalists generally have favorite topics that they write on or specialist areas in which they are skilled. Consequently some journalists are particularly interested in writing about health promotion issues and are therefore pivotal in helping the spread of information of this kind to the general public. A journalist with a passion for the work as well as a background of some kind in medicine can be a very useful tool in health promotion. The danger here is when journalists choose to write on the topic form a position of relative ignorance as this could lead to the spread of inaccurate health information.
Benefits
Health Promotion
Health promotion is aimed at:
- Empowering individuals and communities to take more control over their health and, by implication.
- Empowering individuals and communities to improve their health.
In short the main benefit of these programs is to improve the health of certain groups in the population. Effective health promotion must, in addition, take a number of important factors into account:
- Genetics
- Individual behaviors
- Social determinants of health
- Income level
- Education
- Social and physical environment
Each of these can play a role in how health promotion should be approached in a certain community. The main benefit of health promotion is that it, to put it bluntly, promoted and improves the health of individuals as well as groups.
Disease Prevention
Disease prevention means preventing diseases and illnesses from having a major effect on a population. ‘Prevention’ implies that measures are put in place before a diseases becomes a problem and is different to ‘treatment’ which implies that measures are only put into place after a population has contracted a disease. IN short the idea is to stop the disease in its tracks. This occurs in two main ways:
- By helping at-risk populations reduce or eliminate their risks – certain populations are at higher risk for contracting certain diseases than others for a number of reasons.
- By screening and early detection methods to pick up diseases in early and treatable stages – many diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, can be treated more effectively when caught early.
Purpose And Types Of Studies
According to ehow.com “Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies can be conducted to evaluate how effectively a program is managed and implemented, the quality of the program, and whether the program has reached the target population. Studies can assess the effect of a given program or intervention on the target population in the short term. Impact studies try to identify changes in health knowledge, behavior, environment, and risk factors. Outcome evaluations look at the long-term outcomes associated with a program or intervention in order to determine whether the objectives were achieved”. Basically studies are used in order to determine what illnesses in a community need prevention and education from health promotion specialists and in order to reduce the incidence of ill health in that particular community.
Other Benefits
The other two benefits that such programs bring are:
- Knowledge
- Accountability
Knowledge about health and how to promote it can become generally available to the population as a whole through health promotion programs and studies. In addition medical advances can be made in this way. In addition organizations and individuals who can be seen to have been responsible for large scale health problems (an example would be tobacco companies) can be held accountable for their wrongdoing. In some cases health risks of new products are not fully ascertained, but through health promotion studies this problem can be remedied. In addition with knowledge about health promotion comes a sense of security for those people actively involved in the field as they can see that their hard work is achieving something.
Master’s Programs In Health Promotion
There are a number of master’s degree programs with a specialty in health promotion that you may be interested in looking into. These are 3 of the more popular options:
University of North Texas
Health Promotion Program
1155 Union Circle #310769
Denton, Texas 76203
940-565-2651
unt.edu
Department of Applied Health Science
Indiana University
HPER Building 116
1025 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405
812-855-2156
indiana.edu
School of Recreation, Health, and Tourism
College of Education and Human Development
George Mason University 10900
University Blvd, MS 4E5
Manassas, VA 20110
703-993-2060
There are also some online universities that you could choose from offering Master’s programs in Health Promotion:
Benedictine University:
- MPH in Health Promotion
- Master of Public Health
- MPH in Disaster Management
- MPH in Health Policy
- MPH/MBA Dual Degree
Walden University:
- PhD in Health Promotion
- Master of Public Health
Capella University:
- Master of Public Health
- MPH in Behavioral Science
- MPH in Health Policy
University of Liverpool:
- Master of Public Health
- MPH in Epidemiology
- MPH in Health Management
- MPH in Intl Public Health
Kaplan University:
- MPH in Health Education
- Master of Public Health
- MPH in Epidemiology
- MPH in Program Development
Boston University:
- MS in Health Communication
American Military University
- Master of Public Health
AT Still University of Health Sciences:
- Master of Public Health
- MPH in Dental Health
- MPH in Health Administration
New York Medical College:
- MPH in Policy & Mgmt
Apart from those mentioned here there are a number of other health promotion programs that you may be interested in attending. Remember that health promotion requires a large degree of theory as well as practical knowledge, which is why a master’s degree in considered to be a good idea. Being a health care specialist, such as a nurse, is extremely helpful in this line of work. There are a number of excellent career opportunities open to you and it is a line of work ideal for someone who would like to work in the medical field but who does not want to work directly with patients and their illnesses.
