The Master's Degree in Health Education and Promotion offers two concentrations: Community Health Education (M.A. with thesis or M.Ed.) and School Health Education (licensure)(M.Ed. only). Students enter the Community Health Education concentration from various backgrounds, including health education, nursing, gerontology, sociology, psychology, allied health, and environmental studies. The School Health Licensure option may only be selected by those individuals currently holding a teaching license in another field.
The mission, intent and purpose of the Health Education and Promotion Master's Program is to prepare students for employment as health educators in community-based health agencies (e.g., health departments, and for profit and non-profit agencies, etc.) or as health teachers in schools (for those who currently hold a teaching license in another field). It is designed to enable individuals to pursue their diverse interests in the field of health promotion while addressing the competencies essential to professional development as outlined in the Health Education Role Delineation Model.
Broad objectives for the program include the following:
Students will gain curricular experiences in the utilization of theoretical models of attitude and behavioral change in assessing educational needs, designing educational interventions, and evaluating the effectiveness of program efforts.
Students will have a curricular experience and demonstrated knowledge in: 1) professional identity; 2) social and cultural diversity; 3) human growth and development; and 4) career development.
Students will gain curricular experiences and demonstrate knowledge and skills in the foundations of health education and promotion. For example:
- history and philosophy of health promotion;
- role, function, and professional identity of health educators;
- policies, laws, legislation, and other issues relevant to health education and promotion;
- issues of diversity in health education and promotion; and
- ethical and legal considerations specifically related to health education and promotion.
Students will gain curricular experiences in the contextual dimensions of community:
For example:
- the relationships between health educators and other professionals in various practice settings;
- organizational, fiscal, and legal dimensions of various settings in which health educators practice;
- strategies for community needs assessment to design, implement, and evaluate community health interventions, programs, and systems;
- general principles of community intervention, consultation, education, and outreach, and characteristics of health promotion programs; and
- effective strategies for advocacy in public policy and other matters of equity.
Students will gain curricular experiences based on the Responsibilities and Competencies for entry level health educators as developed by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc.
- assessing individual and community needs for health education;
- obtain health-related data about social and cultural environments, growth and development factors, needs and interests;
- distinguish between behaviors that foster and those that hinder well-being;
- infer needs for health education on the basis of obtained data.
- planning effective health education programs;
- recruit communication organizations, resource people, and potential participants for support and assistance in program planning;
- develop a logical scope and sequence plan for a health education program;
- formulate appropriate and measurable program objectives;
- design educational programs consistent with specified program objectives.
- implementing health education programs;
- exhibit competence in carrying out planned programs;
- infer enabling objectives as needed to implement instructional programs in specified settings;
- select methods and media best suited to implement program plans for specific learners;
- monitor educational programs, adjusting objectives and activities as necessary.
- evaluating effectiveness of health education programs;
- develop plans to assess achievement of program objectives;
- facilitate cooperation between and among levels of program personnel;
- formulate practical modes of collaboration among health agencies and organizations;
- organize in-service training for teachers, volunteers, and other interested personnel.
- acting as resource person in health education
- utilize computerized health information retrieval systems effectively;
- establish effective consultive relationships with those requesting assistance in solving health-related problems;
- interpret and respond to requests for health information;
- select effective educational resource materials for dissemination.
- communicating health and health education needs, concerns, and resources.
- interpret concepts, purposes, and theories of health education;
- predict the impact of societal value systems on health education programs;
- select a variety of communication methods and techniques in providing health information;
- foster communication between health care providers and consumers.
Students who select the Community Health Education concentration will be qualified to take the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) examination.
Students who select the School Health Education Licensure concentration will receive licensure in health as a second subject, which is granted by the State of Ohio Department of Education.
