What You Need to Know About Health Educator

Job Description & Duties Provide and manage health education programs that help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles. Collect and analyze data to identify community needs prior to planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programs designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, policies, and environments. May serve as a resource to assist individuals, other healthcare workers, or the community, and may administer fiscal resources for health education programs.

Daily Life Of a Health Educator

• Develop educational materials and programs for community agencies, local government, and state government.
• Design and conduct evaluations and diagnostic studies to assess the quality and performance of health education programs.
• Maintain databases, mailing lists, telephone networks, and other information to facilitate the functioning of health education programs.
• Collaborate with health specialists and civic groups to determine community health needs and the availability of services and to develop goals for meeting needs.
• Develop operational plans and policies necessary to achieve health education objectives and services.
• Provide guidance to agencies and organizations on assessment of health education needs and on development and delivery of health education programs.

What Every Health Educator Should Know

These are the skills Health Educators say are the most useful in their careers:

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Learning Strategies: Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Types of Health Educator Jobs

• Coordinator, Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Coalition
• Public Health Advisor
• Coordinator, Chronic Disease Prevention Program
• Lamaze International Breastfeeding Support Specialist
• Public Health Analyst

Is There Job Demand for Health Educators?

There were about 61,000 jobs for Health Educator in 2016 (in the United States). New jobs are being produced at a rate of 14.6% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 8,900 new jobs for Health Educator by 2026. The BLS estimates 8,700 yearly job openings in this field.

The states with the most job growth for Health Educator are Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. Watch out if you plan on working in Maryland, Illinois, or Mississippi. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Do Health Educators Make A Lot Of Money?

The salary for Health Educators ranges between about $32,030 and $98,530 a year.

Health Educators who work in District of Columbia, Georgia, or Rhode Island, make the highest salaries.

Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Health Educators in different U.S. states.

State	Annual Mean Salary
Alabama	$53,060
Alaska	$62,800
Arizona	$53,630
Arkansas	$49,270
California	$65,000
Colorado	$56,800
Connecticut	$71,940
Delaware	$67,310
District of Columbia	$88,060
Florida	$54,520
Georgia	$85,440
Hawaii	$74,230
Idaho	$54,110
Illinois	$58,610
Indiana	$55,130
Iowa	$54,650
Kansas	$52,480
Kentucky	$49,280
Louisiana	$55,930
Maine	$49,510
Maryland	$77,820
Massachusetts	$63,270
Michigan	$52,470
Minnesota	$57,740
Mississippi	$43,140
Missouri	$46,470
Montana	$45,370
Nebraska	$46,610
Nevada	$60,090
New Hampshire	$59,100
New Jersey	$61,110
New Mexico	$54,240
New York	$57,010
North Carolina	$57,300
North Dakota	$56,410
Ohio	$55,730
Oklahoma	$55,490
Oregon	$56,230
Pennsylvania	$61,220
Rhode Island	$78,680
South Carolina	$60,060
South Dakota	$49,060
Tennessee	$40,700
Texas	$54,580
Utah	$52,630
Vermont	$58,430
Virginia	$55,880
Washington	$60,780
West Virginia	$48,870
Wisconsin	$55,800
Wyoming	$48,590

What Tools do Health Educators Use?

Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Health Educators may use on a daily basis:

• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Outlook
• Web browser software
• Microsoft Access
• Microsoft Visio
• Adobe Systems Adobe Photoshop
• Facebook
• Microsoft Publisher
• MEDITECH software
• Blackboard
• Blackbaud The Raiser’s Edge
• Blogging software
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epi Info
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC WONDER
• Wiki software

Becoming a Health Educator

Education needed to be a Health Educator:

What work experience do I need to become a Health Educator?

Where do Health Educators Work?

Health Educators work in the following industries:

You May Also Be Interested In…

Career changers with experience as a Health Educator sometimes find work in one of the following fields:

• Coaches and Scouts
• Athletic Trainers
• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School

References:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• College Factual
• O*NET Online

Image Credit: Article 25 Flickr via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

More about our data sources and methodologies.