AAHE's Interest Areas

School Health …
are the strategies, activities, and services offered by, or in association with schools that are designed to promote students' physical, emotional, and social development.

Coordinated school health programs are designed to allow schools to work with students, their families, and their community to provide health strategies, activities, and services in a coordinated, planned way.

In schools, health educators teach health as a subject, promote and implement coordinated school health education programs, and promote a healthy school environment and school-community partnerships. At the school district level they develop education methods and materials; coordinate, promote, and evaluate programs, and write funding proposals.

Universities/Colleges …
are institutions of higher learning that provide facilities for teaching and research and are authorized to grant academic degrees.

On college/ university campuses, health educators are part of a team working to create an environment in which students feel empowered to make healthy choices and create a caring community. They identify needs; advocate and do community organizing; teach whole courses or individual classes; develop mass media campaigns; and train peer educators, counselors, and/ or advocates. They address issues related to disease prevention, consumer health, environmental health, emotional health, sexual health; first aid, safety and disaster preparedness; substance abuse prevention; human growth and development; and nutrition and eating issues. They may also manage grants and conduct research.

Medical Care …
is the professional treatment for illness or injury. It diagnoses and treats medical conditions in accordance with the standards of good medical practice with the medical community.

In health care settings, health educators educate patients about medical procedures, operations, services and therapeutic regimens; create activities and incentives to encourage use of services by high risk patients; conduct staff training and consult with other health care providers about behavioral, cultural, or social barriers to health; promote self-care; develop activities to improve patient participation on clinical processes; educate individuals to protect, promote, or maintain their health and reduce risky behaviors, make appropriate community-based referrals, and write grants.

By focusing on prevention, health education reduces the financial and human costs that individuals, employers, medical facilities, insurance companies, and the nation would spend on medical treatment.

Business/Industry …
is systemic labor especially for some useful purpose or the creation of something of value. It is a department or branch of a craft, art, business, or manufacture that employs a large personnel and capital.

In business and industry, health educators perform or coordinate employee counseling as well as education services, employee health risk appraisals, and health screening. They design, promote, lead and /or evaluate programs about weight control, hypertension, nutrition, substance abuse prevention, physical fitness, stress management, and smoking cessation; develop educational materials; and write grants for money to support these projects. They help companies meet occupational health and safety regulations, work with the media, and identify health resources for employees.

Community Health …
is the health status of a defined group of people and the actions and conditions, both private and public (government), to promote, protect and preserve their health.

In community organizations and governmental agencies health educators help a community identify its needs, draw upon its problem-solving abilities, and mobilize its resources to develop, promote, implement, and evaluate strategies to improve its own health status. Health educators do community organizing and outreach, grant writing, coalition building, advocacy, and develop, produce, and evaluate mass health campaigns.

Public Health …
is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health and efficiency through organized community effort.

Health educators provided expertise in shaping messages, sharing information about different infectious diseases, designing health programs and campaigns, and helping consumers understand disease risks and appropriate ways for improving health status. Health educators work at the individual, group, institutional, community and systemic levels to improve health knowledge, attitudes, and skills for the purpose of changing or encouraging behaviors that relate to optimal health status.

Research …
is a systemic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalized knowledge.

Health educators make use of research to collect and analyze data to identify community needs prior to planning, implementing, monitoring, and interpreting programs designed to encourage healthy behaviors. With research health educators may also serve as a resource to assist the individual or community and may administer fiscal resources for health education programs.

Early Childhood …
is the period of a child's life from conception to age eight.

For a child to develop and learn in a healthy and normal way, it is important not only to meet the basic needs for protection, food and health care, but also to meet the basic needs for interaction and stimulation, affection, security, and learning through exploration and discovery. For this reason, health educators work with parents to strengthen parenting skills, that is to recognize the specific developmental needs of younger children and what they can do to support them. Health educators work also to provide and strengthen day care options; develop preschools and other early childhood education programs that address children's needs, and strive to bolster the community in its economic, physical, and moral support of families and young children.

Health Planning …
is identifying and assessing current and potential public health dangers and outlining programs or strategies to prevent or minimize these dangers to enable people to achieve maximum wellbeing.

Health educators conduct ongoing community health data and information collection and analysis activities in an effort to understand and monitor the health status and the health needs of people. Health educators also identify resources that can be used to address these needs.

Professional Preparation …
is an undergraduate or graduate course of study that includes career-related experiences offered through an accredited college or university that is designed to prepare individuals to practice competently in the health education field.

Certified Health Education Specialists are professionals who have expertise in health education, increase the effectiveness of programs, and have contemporary skills and knowledge of health education through their continuing education requirements. With professional preparation health educators receive the knowledge base and skills aimed at improving and maintaining the health of individuals, families, and communities.