Overview of the Profession
Programs aimed at preparing individuals to become health teachers started being developed towards the end of 19th century. However, it was not until early 1970s that health education was treated as a profession on its own. The work of health teachers involves interacting with people and communities with the aim of spreading health literacy on ways of preventing diseases and staying healthy. They handle various topics among them good nutrition, advantages of exercises, health effects of smoking and ways of avoiding sexually transmitted infections.
Health teachers enhance public health by encouraging people to make healthy decisions in their lives. They also make assessments on what communities require for health education to take place. They are instrumental in the planning and implementation of campaigns on health education. In addition, they conduct monitoring activities to ensure that people adopt healthy lifestyles and habits. Health teachers are also involved in the development of written materials for conducting health education. Such materials include newsletters, proposals and pamphlets. They emphasize the need for community members to change behavior and protect themselves from diseases (Hackethal, 2012).
Health teachers work in different places such as hospitals, colleges, schools, and non-governmental organizations. Some of them work part-time while others prefer working on a full-time basis. The number of hours they work is usually determined by their employers. For example, the number of working hours for those who work in schools is determined by the school programs. Health teachers involved in provision of public health information sometimes engage in fieldwork where they attend community functions to educate the public.
Educational Qualifications
In order to work as a health teacher, an individual is required to acquire a degree in Health Education, Public Health or Community Health. In some organizations, health teachers who have attained Masters in Public Health have higher chances of being employed than those who possess undergraduate degrees only. It is recommended that individuals should first complete undergraduate degrees from universities or relevant colleges before they make applications to join graduate school (Kiger, 2004).
Once individuals graduate from college with the required qualifications, they are trained on the job in various institutions. Additional skills are obtained through completing short courses in writing and public health. Health teachers who go for such additional courses are usually more skilled than those who remain with their college qualifications only. In order to get certification, health teachers with undergraduate degrees are allowed to sit for Certified Health Education Specialist examination.
Current Issues
There are numerous current issues relevant to health teacher profession. For example, there is the need to have more allied health programs. Such programs were not very important in the past but with the current trends in health education, they have become extremely important. Their importance is that they assist the teachers to provide proper health education to community members.
The other current issue relevant to health education profession is the shortage of health education teachers. The need to offer health education to a large number of people has increased considerably. As a result, the number of health education teachers required to meet this demand has also increased. Health teachers provide important health education to community members by equipping them with the right knowledge on health issues. This implies that the number of institutions that offer training for health teachers should be increased.
References
Hackethal, V. (2012). Becoming a Health Teacher. Web.
Kiger, A. (2004). Teaching For Health, New York: Elsevier Health Sciences.