The Health Promotion and Education (Pre) program is an associate degree program designed for students who, after obtaining the associate degree, plan to transition to the baccalaureate program in health promotion and education in UC's College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH).
According to the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. (NCHEC), Health Education Specialist are "professionals who design, conduct and evaluate activities that help improve the health of all people."
The Health Promotion and Education program at the University of Cincinnati is designed to prepare graduates for a variety of health promotion and education job opportunities. Health Education Specialists work to improve the health of individuals or communities, depending on their work setting and job responsibilities. For example, Health Education Specialists working in health departments often are concerned with the health of the community they serve and may develop programs to impact people living in the community. Health Education Specialists working in business/industry may be working one-on-one with individuals to help them modify and improve their diet, increase their physical activity, reduce their stress levels, stop smoking, etc.
The eight basic responsibilities of the Health Education Specialist include:
- Assessing individual and community needs for health education
- Planning health education strategies, interventions and programs
- Implementing health education strategies, interventions and programs
- Conducting evaluation and research related to health education
- Advocating for health and health education
- Communicating for health and health education
- Leadership and Management
- Ethics and Professionalism