Are you interested in making a difference in the world? Are you compassionate and enjoy working with people? Are you concerned about any of these (or other) health issues?
- HIV/AIDS
- Nutrition
- Violence Prevention
- Sexuality and Sexual Health
- Physical Activity
- Illness and Disease
- Substance Abuse
- Social Justice
- The Environment
If so....
Western's Community Health Program is recognized as one of the leading undergraduate programs in the Northwest that trains health educators.
To help prepare our student colleagues to be effective Community Health educators, we require study in a variety of areas: the biological and social sciences, health content, health methods, and health education theory and practice. Many of our courses include service-learning components and the last quarter is devoted to a full-time (40 hours/week) internship at a setting that has a formalized health education/health promotion program. The internship is a formal contractual agreement among the Community Health Program, the student, and the agency supervisor. The degree totals 101 credits.
Graduates of Community Health work in a variety of settings: community health agencies, worksites (business and industry), hospital-based wellness programs, public health departments, environmental agencies, voluntary non-profit organizations, and schools, including colleges and universities. They work with people of all ages, from children to seniors. To address the many contributing factors that lead to a health problem, they work with policy makers and other helping professionals.
Community Health Education is the application of a variety of methods that result in the education and mobilization of community members in actions for resolving health issues and problems which affect the community. These methods include, but are not limited to, group process, mass media, communication, community organization, organization development, strategic planning, skills training, legislation, policymaking and advocacy. (1990 Joint Committee on Health Education Terminology)
Health Educators are professionally trained to use educational strategies and methods to facilitate the development of policies, procedures, interventions, and systems conducive to the health of individuals, groups, and communities. (2000 Joint Committee on Health Education and Promotion Terminology)
The program prepares students to apply for an examination to become a Certified Health Education Specialist, a professional credential based on skills and competencies identified by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc.
The degree also serves as a springboard to graduate study in areas of community health, public health, nursing, and medicine.
(Revised, October 2007)
