Special acknowledgement needs to go to the NMSU graduate coordinator, Jim Robinson, for overseeing this process.  Although it was a true faculty involvement, one person needs to oversee this process.  That person was Dr. Robinson.

NMSU is currently undergoing their undergraduate approval self-study.  Again, all faculty are involved, but Sue Forster-Cox is the lead coordinator.  We are planning our site visit for February 2012.

I first came to know Jill when she started her PhD program at Southern Illinois University in the early 90s.  I had Jill for several classes and eventually served on her dissertation.  Jill was a real hoot in class and throughout her doctoral experience.  If she suffered from any stress she surely didn’t show it.  She always had that smile on her face (and if you know her you know what I’m talking about–this picture is a classic of Jill and her smile!) and she always had an upbeat attitude.  She was the type of student that made one proud to have as a graduate.

Upon graduating she immediately started becoming involved with our national organizations (actually I think she started while a doctoral student).  She became very involved with the history component of our profession.  The history aspect of the health education profession is one in which everybody acknowledges that we’ve done a poor job on, but few stepped up to the plate to do anything.  Jill was one of those few.  She had the wonderful ability to connect the legends with the current leaders (and upcoming leaders).

I would see Jill at AAHE every year…she always had stories to tell about how things were going at Cleveland State.  Her enthusiasm was contagious…that enthusiasm allowed us to move away from any problems that we might have been experiencing, and allowed us temporarily to enjoy the things that we often took for granted.  I don’t know if Jill knew that she did it, but she did–and I thank her for that.

Probably the one thing that really stands out in my mind about Jill is her relationship with her parents.  I can’t imagine how devastated they must feel.  There wasn’t ONE conversation that I ever had with her that at some point she would make reference to her “Ma and Pa’.  They did something right to raise a daughter and it’s reflected by her admiration and respect that she showed when she so lovingly talked about them.

We’ve lost a young legend in our profession.  51 is waaayyy too young.  We’ll miss you Jill and the thousands of people you’ve impacted will always remember you and will miss you too.

Here are the comments from the HEDIR.  Others are welcomed to comment as well.

————————

We had a total of 33 submissions–some were absolutely outstanding.  After this review the committee selected the efforts of Dr. Melissa Haithcox-Dennis in her innovative use of Google Maps and Google Earth in helping students better understand needs assessments and planning.  A brief video is available to review below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’ll post other submissions later.  For example, I really like the video that can be found here: 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Congratulations Melissa.

“Watson, Tyler” Feb 17 01:02PM -0700 ^
Hello my fellow compassionate service workers…

I have been thinking seriously the last few weeks about something and I would like your input.

Healthcare costs are continuing to climb and even with significant reforms I am not confident that the slope of the curve will flatten anytime soon. With the economic pressures being applied to the health system, many of the only solutions seem to be focused on capping costs (i.e. reducing benefits, capitation, more efficient service, expanded use of para-professionals in the clinical setting).

So I wonder… Is our profession poised for the future, or are we chasing the problems of yesterday?

We have a set of skills as outlined in the 7 core competencies and most of us feel like we are well positioned as competent content experts in prevention…
BUT-is that what the FUTURE health educator (or whatever the name may be) will need in their tool belt to address the needs of those seeking health care and those who are responsible for providing it?

I wonder, do we need to train our students in clinical assessment and standard of care procedures for some classifications of patients?
Do we need to have good background in both behavior theory AND hands on clinical management?

Would we be abandoning our professional staples and venturing into other scopes of practice? If so— Is that a good or bad thing?

I know I wish that I was able to bring more to the table in clinical assessment and management… and not hang on the fringes of the table hoping for scraps (what is not being provided in the doctors office)…

Love to hear what you have to say, and maybe even come up with some ideas to conduct a solid needs analysis that might lead us to fill a potential future gap in the health care system.

Tyler Watson, MPH, CHES
Health Science
Brigham Young University-Idaho
Rexburg, ID 83440

——————————–

Ranjita Misra Feb 17 08:31PM
Dear Tyler,

Good point. I want to direct your attention to a special issue of our Journal , the Health Education Monograph Series which will focus on “Emerging Career Paths for Health Educators”. Dr. Delores James from University of Florida is the Guest Editor for this special issue; Dr. Mohammad Torabi is the editor of the Monograph Series.

I have often brooded over the same points and have addressed it in a chapter on this upcoming special issue entitled “Health Educators of the21st century: A Member of the Transdiciplinary Team.” As a health disparities researcher, I often work with a multidisciplinary team. As members of a transdiciplinary team, health educators are well poised to deliver evidence-based practice as well as implementation of research translation in clinic, school and community settings. Most of our efforts on primary and secondary prevention fit into the T2 category of the translational research specified by the National Institute of Health and Institute of Medicine.

However, are our skills and competencies adequate and confer a competitive advantage for us in the transdiciplinary team? Is the CHES competencies and skills unique to our profession? In other words, is a health educator uniquely prepared than other health professionals (e.g., nursing, social work, psychology, health communication, criminal justice) that work in prevention intervention areas of public health? I have presented my stand on this in the manuscript.

Best regards,

Ranjita Misra

Ranjita Misra, PhD, CHES
Professor & Research Director
Center for the Study of Health Disparities (CSHD)
Department of Health and Kinesiology
Member, Intercollegiate Faculty of Nutrition
158V Read Building
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843

President, Eta Sigma Gamma, National Health Science Honor Society
Past President, South Asian Public Health Association

——————-

Kristina Davis Feb 17 02:33PM -0600 ^
I think looking forward programs should train students in project management
capacities and help health educators learn to build interprofessional
networks with clinicians and others. The health educator of the future will
not be a stand alone entity (this will not survive especially with the
increased specialization of services) but one that can enmesh his or herself
to fill in the holes of other services providers. For example, partnering
with fire fighters to make sure that the preventive services they provide
(child safety, smoke detectors, gun safety, etc.) are delivered in plain
language and culturally appropriate manners or working with professional
organizations (AHA, AMA, APIC, ACPM etc.) on their programs delivered to
ensure they are delivered in a way to maximize education. Those are my
thoughts.
—————————–

Stephen Brown Feb 17 03:30PM -0600 ^
Tyler, interesting question. I was recently talking to a group of graduate
students about selecting research topics. We reviewed a couple of related
documents: The CDC report subtitled, *A Guide to Public Health Research
Needs* **(
http://www.cdc.gov/od/science/PHResearch/cdcra/AdvancingTheNationsHealth.pdf),
and the Institute of Medicine report subtitled, *Educating Public Health
Professionals for the 21st Century* (
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10542#toc). Both have similar
priorities and both put emphasis on human genomics, informatics, global
health, participatory research, social determinants of health, mass health
communication, health policy/law, and cultural relevance in a changing
society. Limited space was devoted to discussion of what we might consider
conventional health education practice. I believe the capability to
integrate into a clinical setting is implied, as is the need for larger
public health approaches. Although the core competencies obviously can
apply to these types of priorities, I also wonder whether our students are
getting enough specific training in these areas. And, even if we wanted to
give this training, could we fit it into the current number of credit
hours. I also personally wonder whether I have sufficient expertise to give
this training.

Following this discussion, one of the students in class chose to do her
paper on the role of health educators in the Medical Home Model, a clinical
care model favored by many health care reform advocates. She interviewed
physicians, nurses, and administrators at a very prominent Medical Home.
Two overarching findings were most interesting to me: 1) as a health
educator, she could identify many opportunities for health educators to play
an integral role in this model, and 2) the parties interviewed
underestimated both the capabilities of and the need for a trained health
educator.

Stephen
*
Stephen L Brown PhD*
Associate Professor–Public Health Education
Graduate Director–Department of Health Education and Recreation
Mailcode 4632
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale IL, 62901-4632
—————————–

Mark Fulop Feb 17 02:18PM -0800 ^
Tyler,

The list has been quiet. Thanks for stirring it up. When have health
educators ever had a role in the medical industrial complex? I went
into health education, in part to become an antagonist to the medical
industry. When I got training it was from the perspective that health
educators have always been those seeking to overthrow the profit
driven disease model of health care and seeking to prevent disease
through education, advocacy and organizing. My advice to those
wanting clinical skills that they become the other kind of doctor : )

Having said that, and knowing that there are many health educators
hoping to embed themselves in the lucrative medical industrial
complex, I think the discipline could learn a lot from the library
sub-discipline of medial librarianship (note the Medical Library
Association has a peer reviewed journal that
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/93/). These librarians have
found a way to make themselves as integral service provider in the
clinical environment. I would point out a great collection of
resources to sup your thinking in this direction.
http://www.mlanet.org/resources/vital/

m

–
Mark Fulop, MA, MPH

Facilitation & Process, LLC
“Productive meetings. Smart strategies. Lasting Impact
PO Box 18144
Portland, OR 97218-0144

——–

“Froehle, Mary” Feb 17 05:37PM -0600 ^
I would disagree that health educators working in the medical field have “imbedded” themselves in the “medical industrial complex.” I am proud that the work health educators do can prevent or improve chronic health conditions when medicine can only do so much. Unfortunately, the population I work with, we all may work with, may already have elevated blood pressure, be overweight, not currently participate in regular physical activity, or not regularly test for things like cervical cancer, etc. Health education involves not only primary prevention approaches, but in many cases, secondary and sometimes tertiary strategies. The Medical Home Model, for example, was referred to in an earlier email by Dr. Stephen Brown. Health educators can, do, and will play a crucial role in the coordination of care, patient education, and measurement of outcomes for this Model and the Chronic Care Model. When health educators work in a healthcare setting, positive outcomes may include a reduction in the number of medications taken, less emergency room visits, improvement in chronic conditions, and the prevention of life-threatening diseases (such as cancers). As people live longer and develop chronic conditions, the need for health educators in the medical/healthcare setting will grow. Not all health educators can teach in an academic setting, work at the state or local health department, or run a for-profit consulting business. Some, like me, work with patients in a clinical setting (in a not-so lucrative, yet fiscally responsible, publically- owned safety net hospital) where the right combination of clinical intervention and health education will optimistically lead to positive outcomes.

Mary Froehle, BS, CHES
Care Coordinator – Medical Home
Broadlawns Medical Center
1801 Hickman Road
Des Moines, IA 50314

———————

“Watson, Tyler” Feb 17 04:46PM -0700 ^
Mary’s experience and position is what I refer to when I say we need to position for the future. HMO’s will be back (albeit with a new name– medical home etc) and health educators and their preparation programs need to ensure that we are ready for the demands that will be placed on us to help contain costs, prevent and manage disease and “rethink” the classic medical model.

Tyler Watson

——————————

Mark Fulop Feb 17 03:49PM -0800 ^
Mary,

Please don’t get me wrong, inherent in Tyler’s opening post was
concern about health care cost containment. True costs are contained
before people walk through the doors of the Medical Industrial
Complex. As I just said in an email to an individual on the list
“Health education embedded in the hospital is pulling bodies out of
the water as they float by. Community health education is about going
upstream and figuring out why people are falling into the river in the
first place and preventing it at the source rather than the end stage.
Isn’t that where true health care cost containment is to be found?”
So my opening was more of a philosophical statement about health
education as primary rather than tertiary care.

Also don’t ignore the other half of my post that pointed to the MLA
model of taking what, on the surface, seems tangential to health care
(library science) and making a direct valuae add to the medical
system. I suggest for those in tertiary care that such is the
approach that health Educators need to be stronger in.

m

–
Mark Fulop, MA, MPH

Facilitation & Process, LLC
“Productive meetings. Smart strategies. Lasting Impact
PO Box 18144
Portland, OR 97218-0144

—————–

Ranjita Misra Feb 17 09:31PM ^
FYI

Ranjita Misra, PhD, CHES
Professor & Research Director
Center for the Study of Health Disparities (CSHD)
Department of Health and Kinesiology
Member, Intercollegiate Faculty of Nutrition
158V Read Building
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THURSDAY, FEB. 17, 2011

** CENSUS BUREAU MEDIA ADVISORY **

Census Bureau to Release Local 2010 Census Data
for Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon,
Utah and Washington

What: Next week, the U.S. Census Bureau anticipates releasing local-level 2010 Census population counts for Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. For each state, the Census Bureau will provide summaries of population totals, as well as data on race, Hispanic origin and voting age for multiple geographies within the state, such as census blocks, tracts, voting districts, cities, counties and school districts.

According to Public Law 94-171, the Census Bureau must provide redistricting data to the 50 states no later than April 1 of the year following the census. As a result, the Census Bureau is delivering the data state-by-state on a flow basis in February and March. All states will receive their data by April 1, 2011.

When: Each state’s geographic products and redistricting data are first delivered to the state’s leadership, such as the governor and majority and minority leaders in the state legislative body. Upon confirmation of delivery to the state leadership, we will release a news release with five custom tables of data. Within 24 hours, the full set of five detailed tables will be available to the public online at <http://factfinder2.census.gov>.

For more information on the Census Bureau’s Redistricting Data Program, visit <http://www.census.gov/rdo>.

Online Press Kit:

For more information about the U.S. Census Bureau, please visit <http://www.census.gov<http://www.census.gov/>> and <http://2010.census.gov/news/press-kits/redistricting.html> and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and YouTube (/uscensusbureau).

So here are my top 6 issues with health education

1)      Our name hurts us.

People confuse us exclusively with school teaching.  Now, school teaching is important, but the profession has emerged far beyond the school setting.  I’m proud to be called a health educator, and among health educators we understand our uniqueness and impact on various settings.  But that doesn’t hold true for those outside health education.  I don’t necessarily have an answer…but I do know the following.  Since I’ve been involved with an MPH, I’ve started using a title as Public Health Education.  People don’t know what we do (as they do when I state health education) but the questions I get are more of interest and are given more respect.  When I use the words health promotion or behavior it also elicits a different set of questions.  However, use the word education and one is almost certainly automatically affiliated with schools.

2)      We’re still too tied in with physical education.

This may be partly due to issue number 1.  Of course it doesn’t help that one of the largest health education professional organizations is affiliated with physical education.  That hopefully will change within the next few years.  I was speaking to a person who works at a university and their dean is asking that health education and physical education consider merging.  He indicated that he’s not known any place where they weren’t in one department.  If this was 1950 perhaps this might be acceptable.  But with the massive shift of health education from solely school health to broader public health, it doesn’t make sense.  There is very little connection.  True physical activity could be a common thread, is a major issue, but that’s more a public health factor than a physical education issue.  We’re no more related to physical education than we are to nutrition, psychology, or sociology.  In addition, by affiliating ourselves with physical education, we run the risk of being associated with a profession that, in many locations, has low respect in the eyes of the public.

3.       We still allow states to merge teaching certificates into a combined health and physical education unit.

When I started college in 1971 Mankato State (MN) was on the wave of a trend in which states required those to teach health to have a separate teaching certificate just in health.  Whereas some states still had a ‘health and physical education’ teaching endorsement, they were slowly being phased out.  At Mankato I was the first wave of true health educators.  My roommate, Johnny Cramer (a great person and a great teacher) was the last of his group to earn a health and physical education certificate.  Like David Birch,  Johnny’s major of HPE consisted of 70 hours, with just 9 in health.  Nine hours and you’re qualified to teach Health?  (I had over 70 in health).  So, what has happened to the ‘separate health education’ certificate?  We now have states, 40 years after my initial experience, reverting back to a ‘combined’ degree.  The justification is that schools won’t hire somebody without the ability to teach both.  So we are allowing public schools and economics dictate to our profession how we need to proceed.  If you buy into this concept (a HPE combo degree) let’s not make the mistakes we made in the past.  Let’s require at least HALF of the courses to discuss health (and not just 9 hours that my roommate had).  Again, we have failed to let the people know that health education is not related to physical education.  I would feel a whole lot better if we required a combined health education/social studies degree.  We have more in common with social studies, social issues, than we have with physical education (but remember, I only had 1 physical education activity course in college—beginning swimming-in which I received a C.  How was I to know that one had to be an experienced swimmer to take beginning swimming).

4.       The profession is too myopic in its involvement with other professions.

Related to number three…we shouldn’t automatically be viewed as one in the same with physical education.  Most health educators would agree to that…yet we haven’t taken advantage, worked with, and collaborated enough with related professions such as epidemiology, anthropology, and psychology in our initiatives—those professions that have high respect, high academic expectations and are strong in research.  There is still a tendency to think that ‘unless one is a health educator, they can’t understand health or health education’.  Some of the best health researchers are those in those disciplines stated earlier.  They have exceptional research skills, and we don’t take advantage of those skills.  It’s critical because they receive funding, complete research and make recommendations that impact health education initiatives throughout the country. Yes, sometimes they miss the concept of what health education truly is.  I would love to see health educators working more aggressively with these professionals to provide their insight on the research and the role of health education.

5.       We’re not opportunists

We have missed too many opportunities or we haven’t fully capitalized on them.  Let me give you two examples.  I graduated from high school in 1971 (that’s nearly 40 years ago) from White Bear Lake, Minnesota.  I had my required health class for one year while a sophomore (that’s 1969).  My school had 4 teachers dedicated to health only…they did not teach PE…only health.  The class had an extensive unit on sex education.  Now, I realize that Minnesota is a very liberal state…I also know that Minnesota has always had among the very best public schools in the country.

Contrast that to now, where we can’t even talk about sex in schools.  Plus, time and time again, we see health taught by people with little or no training in health.

Another example:   we experienced the 1980s when an ultra conservative appointment (C. Everett Koop) from Ronald Reagan’s administration, pleaded with the country to talk to people about sex and to encourage condom use to prevent AIDS (or HIV transmission as we state it now).  We have failed to capitalize on this public health tragedy (a horrible way to state such).   We are more provincial in 2010 on our thoughts of sex than we were in 1950, 60, and 70s.  Shame on us.

Example 3:  With the aftermath of  9-11 and the Anthrax scare, public health has become a much more respected and demanded profession.  Many states are using the public health structure to oversee emergency preparedness.  We as health educators need to fully capitalize on this popularity.

6.       We do not market ourselves very well

Internally we argue whether we should use the term community health or public health.  We’re not aggressive enough to stand up and tell people we’re not physical educators.  We get too excited that we have great state laws that require ‘health’ at public schools…yet we don’t go crazy when they hire non-health educators to teach health (and for the record, I do not think a person with a ‘minor’, or ‘additional teaching field’ to be qualified to teach any topic—much less health).  Yet, public and community mean the same…yet public health has a much more respected term.  We silently approve of the merging of health and physical education, and we don’t market the unique skills of health education and how they can prevent and/or reduce many of the public health concerns.

Hope this is of interest to you.  Enjoy the rest of the National Health Education Week.

Mark J. Kittleson, PhD, FAAHB, FAAHE
Professor, Public Health Education
Director of Graduate Studies
Southern Illinois University
www.siu-salukis-hed.com

The basis for my passion for health education is probably similar to that of many of you.  One reason is obvious – through appropriate practice we can make a difference.  Depending on our practice setting, we may make a difference in an individual’s life, the life of a family or community, or the life of a prospective or current health educator.  How fortunate we are to be able to say that our work makes a difference.  Another reason for my passion is the nature of professional practice in health education – the interaction with program participants or students, the use of a variety of instructional methods, the opportunities for meaningful research, and the ongoing change in our practice as the discipline matures and continues to move toward more evidence-based approaches.  I also feel strongly about the role of health education and health promotion in addressing important “big-picture” issues – the importance of health status to individuals’ academic, professional and life satisfaction; the need to address health disparities and related social justice issues; and the necessary linkage of our profession to political action.

I certainly believe that the practice of health education is at a higher level now than at any time during my career.  That being said, I believe that we have a number of professional challenges in front of us.  Below is a description of my perception of four current challenges.

(1)   Few people outside of the profession really understand health education (this is not a new challenge).  We need to inform decision-makers, the general public (who influence decision-makers), and media professionals about the nature of quality health education in all settings.  Unfortunately the perception of many adults may be based on their experiences with inadequate, possibly meaningless health education – for many adults, when they think of health education they think of experiences such as the textbook/worksheet/video-based school health education taught by an unprepared teacher, or the receipt of a pamphlet with no direct instruction in a community or medical care setting.  Addressing these inaccurate perceptions requires carefully-planned, evidence-based education and advocacy efforts.

(2)   We need to expand our research agenda.  Certainly our research is more meaningful and sophisticated than at any time in our history.  We must continue to learn more about our programs, our methods, participants, etc. However, there are other types of questions that need attention:  What is best practice in professional preparation?  What methods are most effective in assuring access and meaning to our programs for all individuals and communities? How do we influence decision-makers – What types of messages are most effective?  Who should deliver those messages?  How should they be delivered?  How do we recruit students into our professional preparation programs so that our profession reflects the ethnic and racial diversity of our society?  How can we maximize the use of technology in our practice?  What are the professional development needs related to technology of our current health educators?  This is a very limited list – many of you can identify additional questions.  Perhaps the time has come for a formal, unified effort to develop a research agenda for the profession.

(3)   Progress in quality assurance in professional preparation and practice must continue to move forward.  While refinement will be needed over time, the new initiatives that are moving the profession toward a coordinated accreditation system for professional preparation programs and CHES/MCHES status for individual health educators will have a positive impact on practice in all settings.

(4)   We need to move toward professional unification.  We have too many professional organizations that serve many of the same members.  Unification will lead to a common, more representative voice for our profession; easier profession-wide consensus; a clearer organizational choice for students and professionals, better communication and understanding among professionals in different practice settings, and eventual enhanced perception of the profession.  With broad professional input, this important restructuring should be able to be accomplished while preserving the history and tradition of our current organizations.

I appreciate Mark’s invitation to present my perspective – he asked me to describe how I entered the profession, why it is important to me, and what I see as future challenges.  My responses are not intended to be all inclusive – however, I hope they generate more ideas and thoughts for ongoing HEDIR discussion.

David A. Birch, PhD, CHES
Professor
Department of Health Education and Promotion
East Carolina University

I’m a pretty cut and dry kinda gal.  Always was, always will be.  So, with thanks to Mark for the invitation to contribute my two cents on health education, here they are, with a focus on the profession itself.

For me, being in health education over the past 30 years is like being in a long term relationship with someone you adore, but who, from time to time drives you absolutely, positively bonkers.  As the caricatured Asian woman explains most melodically in Avenue Q, the New York City based X rated Sesame Street play:

“The more you love someone,
The more you want to kill ‘em.
The more you love someone,
The more he make you cry.

“So if there someone
You are wanting so
To kill ‘em.
You go and find him.
And you get him.
And you no kill him.
‘Cause chances good
He is your love.”

After almost 30 years in a fabulous relationship with my professional partner, health education, here’s what I’d tell my relationship counselor, if I had one.  I’d say, “Ok here’s what I love about Health Ed, and here’s the stuff about Health Ed that drives me to distraction.

Five Things I Love About Health Ed:

1.  It’s never boring and there’s no need to get into a rut. I absolutely revel in all the choices; all the different dimensions of Health Ed.  I have had jobs based on (1) specific health education functions (planning, implementing/coordinating and evaluating programs; training; research, etc.), (2) priority populations (teenagers, pregnant women, substance abusers, seniors, immigrant workers, outpatients, etc.), (3) settings (schools, medical care facilities, workplaces, specific geographic neighborhoods, etc.), (4) health issue (adolescent health, maternal and child health, lead poisoning, human sexuality, HIV/AIDS, etc.), or (5) type of intervention (outreach, home visits, group presentations, group facilitation, advocacy, materials development, community mobilizing and organizing, working with the media, etc.) among other things.  It’s like discovering a new dimension of your partner every couple of year – the thrill is never gone.

2.  The skills we learn as health educators are transferable. At one point in my eclectic health education career, I needed a change from first frontline and then managerial health education positions and academic positions to something different.  An opportunity arose, and for a dramatic – I thought – change of pace, I seized an opportunity/opening and went into Human Resources Development – Personnel Training and Development…first as the director of computer training for City employees, and eventually Assistant Commissioner for Personnel Development for the City of New York.   Eventually, to establish my credibility in the position, I took a 13 week Human Resources course at a nearby college and then took the Senior Professional in Human Resources certification exam…and, surprise, surprise, passed.  As hard as I worked, I honestly believe it was my health education training that put me over the top on that course and the exam.  Some say “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”  For this girl, my staunchest supporters professionally have been my Health Ed skills.  Keeping them in shape is the least I can do, and I make sure I get to one local and one national meeting each year…used to be more, but Health Ed has started putting a bit too high of a price on a “night out” and so we’ve been seeing a little less of each other lately.

3. Little wins are huge pleasures. The practice of Health Ed is often frustrating; gratification

so often is delayed!  After all you can’t build community capacity, change policy, and achieve other health education goals overnight, can you?  However, there are sweet short term benchmarks that are so so satisfying!  Doesn’t it send a little ripple of excitement through you to finally get a local agency that seemed to be playing hard to get to join your coalition?  Doesn’t it just tickle you when you test a print piece and find it works – or why it won’t?  And, ah, the deep sense of satisfaction that comes from finding a combination of teaching methods that are just perfect for the group you’ll be working with.  Or the sense of release you feel when you successfully facilitate a helping interview during which your client figures out for himself that a certain behavior change would be a good idea and how he might do it.  Yes, we often need to be very patient and wait for facilitated “nature” to take its course, but it sure is a lot of fun, and very rewarding, to take each of the contributing steps along the way to achieving your ultimate goal.

4. Really cool people are your colleagues. Remember the line, “Ya gotta kiss a lotta frogs

before you find a prince”?  Well, as I was trying to figure out what I wanted to study after deciding I didn’t want to teach high school French grammar with my degree in French Literature, I met a whole lot of professional “frogs.”  I “dated” many fields, attending many professional meetings – as a student, it’s easy and cheap to go “professional meeting hopping.”  But when I attended by first SOPHE meeting, and then APHA and then AAHE, etc., etc., I knew I had found true love…sanctuary, security, and satisfaction.  Ah, there is nothing quite like finding your professional home.  And what a family you all are to me.  I wouldn’t trade you wonderful – and some of you absolutely crazy – people for anything…and yes, I know you still have those pictures, Larry.  Do with them what you will!

5. Identifying and nurturing the next generation of health educators. I swear, I don’t

know what pushes my buttons more than this….and this from a woman who teaches human sexuality as often as possible!   No matter where I am, and I have been everywhere it seems, (hospitals, schools, nonprofits, health departments, graduate programs, private and public colleges, and more).  Never have I found anything so gratifying teaching a course or being there for a student-run community health club meeting and striking health education “gold.”  This, I think, is my greatest joy – even ten minutes after I find myself wanting to strangle everyone in the class that just ended because it’s week seven and they haven’t bought the book yet or haven’t realized you need to look at a syllabus after the first week of classes.  When you see them get all dressed up for their first local awards ceremony, compose an abstract and then put together a poster session on their own, prepare and present a professional presentation at a student conference, or see them doggedly trailing a legislative aid to the restroom in the Rayburn House spouting information they just learned the night before in their hotel room with four other roommates at the Advocacy Summit about why it’s important to increase funding for prevention – all you can do is what in my neighborhood we call “kvell” with pride and joy.

What drives me freakin’ nuts:

1.   That most people who call themselves health educators aren’t certified. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, health educators held over 66,200 jobs in 2008.  According to the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc., there are about 8,000 Certified Health Education Specialists.  Anybody but me see anything disappointing in this?  I know that we teach that it’s not wise to have too many partners, but in this instance, I think the profession needs all it can get.  I have a PhD and a CHES credential.  I just wish more other health education practitioners did, too.  And even though some would say that I had a good piece of my lifetime possible career under my belt, I’m going for the MCHES credential – not because I need it to move forward in my career, but because it’s good for my profession and my students.

2        That you can never ever find one really good picture that represents “A Health

Educator” or a pithy, memorable sound bite that explains what a health educator does. We don’t wear jaunty little caps, don’t dangle diagnostic doo-hickies around our necks, don’t sport stylish Grey’s Anatomy- type uniforms, and don’t have little health educator plaques, wire statues, dolls or trophies to give or be given.  We do role delineations, competency assessments, competency update projects, and job analyses.  Why, after graduating with a masters degree and doctoral degree in health education back in the year of the flood, and after almost 30 years in the business (I was a health education prodigy who went to college at age two!) do I feel so damn defensive?  I am an out health educator and proud of it!  Why doesn’t the world get it yet that we are a unique and essential profession?  Dare I hope to live to see that?

3        Health education professional programs with courses taught by other professionals

and health education departments and projects not run by health educators. I’d

like to think (maybe hope and pray a bit, too), that there’s less and less of this.  While I’m still here, I really would like to see my students, as they earn their masters and doctoral degrees, taught by professional health education role models as well as very smart educators with a good grasp of the books they’re teaching from.  And when I send my students out on health education fieldwork assignments at an organization that does health education, I want to be able to find a health educator by degree or certification or professional association membership to supervise that student.  Is that really asking too much?

4. That we’re still so fractured – divided.  The profession’s “face” could still be Eve’s or

Sybil’s – with all their multiple personalities.  Everyone who has known me for an hour and a half knows my hyperactive fantasy life is made up of images of a lead organization coordinating the efforts of the eight, nine, ten – whatever – professional health education associations that currently exist.  How can they all be the re-eminent health education organization?  And the memberships of these organizations all tolled are nowhere near 66,200!  Why not?  The way I have seen it for quite some time now, we need to share resources and coordinate our efforts.  We don’t need six journals and eight, nine or ten administrative offices and conferences, and…and… and.  Again, it is my fondest professional hope to live long enough to see a health education convention put on by one coordinating administrative body that represents all of our organizations.  I can imagine that it would include programs designed by all of our eight, nine or ten professional associations with common/generic sessions in which tens o thousands of us would come together, and breakout sessions by specializations currently represented by these associations.  Does anybody see what I see?  I imagine all the professions we work with and the people we want to influence and those we serve thinking, “What a large and united force health educators are!  What a powerful/influential group!”  We have so many coalition experts in health education – can’t we enhance our own professional alliance and apply the lessons we teach others to ourselves?

5. The profession I’m “in bed” with now doesn’t seem to be the same profession I

originally fell in love with. As we circle our wagons (raise the academic bar for certification to require graduation from an accredited health education program) for the purpose of warding off “the enemies” or establishing a stronger identity, I fear we are losing sight of the principles of the Open Society that defines health education for so many of us.  What happened to the profession’s professed preference for inclusiveness?

So here are my two biggest gripes/burning questions:

Why can’t everyone be able to take our profession’s certification exam if they think they can pass it?  Marketing does it.  If you can’t pass, you’re not certified.  If you can, you become certified as competent at a level that meets the profession’s standards.  Why are we becoming more and more restricted (elitist?) in our certification process?  Why, especially a the CHES level, are we working toward a goal that would exclude health education practitioners who might be quite competent in the skills that were determined by a national assessment, reassessment, and job analysis process that involved practitioners nationwide.

Why can’t all academic health education courses count toward exam eligibility?  For example, at Kingsborough Community College where we offer an AS degree in health education, unless my students transfer to and graduate from a senior/4-year college that accepts those courses toward its own degree, the courses do not count toward CHES exam eligibility.  If I am a French major who decides to go into health education, and decide to use the criteria of a BA degree PLUS a minimum of 25 credits in health education courses related to the Seven Areas of Responsibilities to qualify for the exam, I cannot apply any credits from health education courses taken at my community college.  Everyone who knows me knows I don’t believe that an AS degree should be the basis for taking our certification exam, but if someone with a bachelor’s or masters degree from an accredit college/university goes on to take 25 credits in health education competency-based courses and two or three of those courses are part of the academic curriculum at a community college, they won’t count.  Of course more courses are needed at the junior or senior or graduate level, to be sure, but to not have the community college academic health education courses count at all?  That feels very elitist and exclusionary to me.  And this is not the profession I joined.  An academic course is an academic course.  I can’t believe that the profession I love won’t accept my community college’s Principles of Health Education and Promotion course, my Personal Health course, and another course that focuses on health needs assessment or the one that gives an overview of health education interventions.  Other courses are needed, of course – courses at a higher academic level, of course.  But to say the academic health education courses of a community college (not the remedial courses, not the vocational courses, not the continuing education courses) that the academic courses of a community college ON PRINCIPLE can’t count toward CHES exam eligibility…well that really gets me riled.

Closing

So there you have it: I love my profession and though some times it drives me crazy, the commitment and passion are still there.  As in any intimate relationship, disclosure is an important step towards increased intimacy.  I thank Mark for the opportunity to speak my mind…or what’s left of it!  I hope it brings us – KDG and Health Ed – closer.  I will continue to support Health Ed and look forward to all the pleasures of this wonderful, complex relationship.  Thirty years ago, I fell in love.  I made an initial commitment (my MS) to Health Ed and then 12 years later I renewed my vows (PhD).  Yes, Health Ed, I love you, and yes, sometimes I want to “kill you.”  But here we are talking about it.  What’s more optimistic in a relationship than that?

kdg

Karen Denard Goldman, PhD, CHES
Co-Director, Community Health Program
Kingsborough Community College
Celebrating 25 years as CUNY’s Launchpad for Careers in Public Health
2001 Oriental Boulevard, G-201
Brooklyn, NY 11201
kgoldman@kbcc.cuny.edu
karendenardgoldman@verizon.net
Office:  718-368-5716

Late last month I found out that Dr. Don Read, a noted health educator, died in May 2009.  Don was an instrumental people in many lives, as well as a voice of reason for the profession of health education.  I met Don while serving on a Joint Committee between SOPHE/AAHE on Graduate Standards in the 1990s and am proud to say that he was a good friend.  I asked Patty Houston to write a eulogy for Don.

Thanks for doing this Patty, and sorry that it’s so late Don…

From Patty Houston:

What a sad day it is for Health Education.  My mentor, colleague, and friend has taken his last breath, his last Harley ride, and his last swim.  Donald Algott Read was a giant in the field of health education.  He was an amazing teacher and avid text book writer.  Don was born on July 19, 1934.  He grew up in Rhode Island with his mother, father, and brother.  His father, who instilled the love of swimming in him, and his brother pre-deceased him.  He told me once that even though he was in his 60’s, his mother still called him “Donny.”  He said when he wanted to eat something unhealthy, he could hear her voice in his head saying, “Now Donny, you need to stay away from all that sugar.”

He worked his way through his undergrad program as a Florida Gator on a swimming scholarship.  He went on to get his master’s degree at the University of Maryland, then his Ed.D. from Boston University.  He simultaneously got married to his now estranged wife, Susan, and they had 2 children together, Robin and Craig, who have given Don 3 beautiful grandchildren.  He settled down in Amherst, MA as a professor at the University of Massachusetts.  He went on to found the department of health education at Worcester State College.  He continued teaching in the health education track, and in the years before his retirement, he also developed the community health education program.

His first book, Creative Teaching in Health, co-authored by Walter Greene, changed how classes were taught throughout the nation.  His last book, Health Education: A Cognitive/Behavioral Approach, was, in his words, “the concepts of mind, body, personal beliefs and concerns that is approached through a synergistic behavioral change process.”  I had the privilege of writing the instructor’s manual to his last text.  One of the great things about Don was that as he climbed his way up the career ladder, he was also always reaching down and pulling other people up.

On a personal level, Don had a certain calmness about him.  Being with him made you feel that no matter what was going on in your life, it was going to be okay.  Whenever you talked to him, you left feeling better about yourself than when you first walked in the door.  He was warm, caring, a good listener, and easy-going.  He described himself as a “bleeding-heart liberal.”  He had a side career as a licensed sex therapist and was interviewed back in the 1990’s on the Phil Donahue show as a relationship expert.  He was a master’s level swimmer and swam every single day.  He had a 1964 Harley Davidson that he refurbished and rode cross country every summer.  His favorite color was blue, and he wore jeans and a button down shirt to teach.  He loved to cook and his favorite food was pasta.  He signed everything in black sharpie marker and put a smiley face after signing his name.

He loved his students and believed that teaching kept him young.  I can still hear him counseling a young girl and telling her, “You are not your past.  Don’t let anyone else tell you who you are.”  He believed in behavioral change, personal responsibility, and forgiveness.  And he wouldn’t let me live it down if I didn’t pass on one of his famous stories:

Two monks were walking down the road.  They came upon a woman who wanted to cross the path but it was covered in mud and she didn’t want to get dirty.  One of the monks said, “hop on my back and I’ll carry you across.”  The other monk was angry.  They were not supposed to talk to women or let one touch them.  The first monk carried the woman across and let her off.  She was appreciative of the help, and the monks went on their way.  The day went on and the monks continued traveling on their journey.  The second monk finally said, “I can’t believe you picked that woman up and carried her across the road.  We are not supposed to talk to women or allow them to touch us.”  The first monk replied, “my friend, I let that woman off my back hours ago; why are you still carrying her?”

Don’s last day on this earth was May 27, 2009.  His family held a private burial at sea so that Don could spend eternity in the water—the place he considered his second home.  I know that I surely do miss him.  He taught me to be a good leader and a great educator.  I am a better person for having known him and having had the privilege to work side by side with him for so many years.  A part of him will always live on through me.  If he taught me one thing, it’s this: “There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle,” by Albert Einstein

Patty Houston, RN, MPH, M.Ed.

These economic times are once again reminders of the importance that people market what they do.  One cannot sit by idly thinking that good works will be rewarded (or acknowledged).  We, as individuals who desire to help our fellow humans, tend to be very cautious about ‘promoting’ ourselves.  Yet, it’s critical to let the public know what you are doing, but also for the decision-makers to see what you are doing.

Let’s use October 17-23 to tout the uniqueness and importance of our profession. We can often be critical of ourselves, but we need to realize that we (health educators) are true leaders in so many ways.  Many look to our leadership in the use of technologies, needs assessments, planning, and the many other ’7 areas’ that we often take for granted.  For example, I was recently invited to participate in a planning committee for an event scheduled in December.  As  I sat there  I realized that most of the issues associated with this event should have been resolved months ago.  I’m thinking that these people  have absolutely no clue on how to plan an event.  As I make suggestions it appears like I’m some planning genius.  To me it’s just common sense, but for people without such skills/experience, it appears that I have these exceptional planning skills.  That is probably true for most health educators….we may take for granted that we have such skills–but they are valued by those we help.

Post a comment on similar experiences that you may have had, or if you have any ideas on how best to commemorate National Health Education Week-2010.