Health Education Specialists’ Attitudes toward End-of-Life Education And Planning

This study explored attitudinal differences of Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) and Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES) toward providing end-of-life education. From a national CHES/MCHES list, we stratified health education specialists by geographic location then randomly selected participants. In our sample (N = 373), older individuals, those who cared for terminally ill persons/families, and those who had death and dying education had more positive attitudes toward providing end-of-life education. We offer three approaches to address the advance care-planning crisis: 1) providing additional end-of-life education to medical professionals, 2) assisting medical schools with incorporating experiential learning, and 3) community outreach.

Increasing Self-Efficacy Among Future Health Educators: An Exploratory Study Using Service Learning

Background. Service learning is a pedagogical tool that involves students delivering a service, linked to course learning outcomes, to the community and measured through acquisition of knowledge, attitudes, and skills along with overall satisfaction of the experience. Undergraduate students enrolled in a peer health education course, collaborated with campus health promotion staff, in a semester-long service learning project to plan, implement, and evaluate a campus-wide health fair. Purpose. The purpose of the study was to examine how participation in a service learning project affected students’ self-efficacy aligned with the seven Areas of Responsibilities (AoR) of Certified Health Education Specialists. Method. The multimethod design used pre- and posttest results and reflective writing samples to evaluate changes in students’ ( n = 58) self-efficacy related to the seven AoR of Certified Health Education Specialists. Students completed semistructured reflective journals responding to overall satisfaction, barriers to implementation, and significance of the learning experience and health fair on their professional development. Results. Results indicated students’ self-efficacy increased across all AoR, with the largest improvements reported in Areas III, V, and VI. Students described feeling competent responding to questions and directing attendees to available on- and off-campus resources. Results emphasized overall satisfaction with the service learning health fair project, uniquely the importance of applying information from the classroom setting to the real world. Conclusions. Service learning opportunities in classroom settings and professional preparation programs aid in preparing future leaders within the field of health education to exemplify the seven AoR with competency and confidence.

Advocacy and Public Policy Perceptions and Involvement of Master Certified Health Education Specialists

Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES; n = 186) participated in a mail survey on advocacy and public policy. Over half of participants reported that they had contacted a public official or provided policy-related information to consumers or other professionals. Participants identified barriers and benefits to influencing public policy. The greatest benefit was identified as improving the health or welfare of the public while the greatest barrier was that they were busy with other priorities. Participants also described their level of involvement, knowledge, training in advocacy, and their self-efficacy in performing various advocacy activities. Most MCHES reported voting and other basic advocacy functions while far fewer had participated in more advanced advocacy activities. Although nearly 73% had formal training on advocacy and policy, only 26% received it through college coursework. Factors predictive of advocacy and policy involvement were determined through a stepwise regression analysis. Five independent variables predicted the total number of advocacy activities and when combined accounted for nearly 61% of the variance. Government-level health educators’ misconception that they cannot participate in advocacy and public policy issues should be dispelled. Health education specialists with the MCHES credential need coursework and additional training on how to effectively influence public health policy.