HLTH 6110/HLTH 8110: Exploring Health Education in the 21st Century | Week 6

Sidney is a health educator responsible for devising a drug awareness and abstinence program aimed at minority youth in an urban city. Sidney’s manager has slated a budget of $5,000 for this program over a 6-month period and it is to take place at the Health Education Center where Sidney is employed. In order to design the drug awareness and abstinence program, Sidney must propose a list of required materials, an outline of proposed instructional methods, as well as a tentative personnel list for the execution of this drug awareness and abstinence program.

This week, you examine concepts related to the practice of health education. You examine and consider budgetary and personnel considerations for the implementation of health education programs. You also create job descriptions for personnel for the health education program and health issue that you selected in Week 2.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze steps for development of expertise and competencies as a health educator
• Identify concepts related to certifications, competencies, and roles of health educators
• Create a budget for health education programs
• Identify personnel needs for health education programs
• Create job descriptions for personnel in health education programs

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Cottrell, R. R., Girvan, J. T., Seabert, D., Spear, C., & McKenzie, J. F. (2018). Principles and foundations of health promotion and education (7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Benjamin Cummings.

• Chapter 6, “The Health Education Specialist: Roles, Responsibilities, Certifications, and Advanced Study”

National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. (2018). Welcome. Retrieved from http://www.nchec.org/

University of Kansas. (2013b). Section 1: Developing a plan for assessing local needs and resources. Retrieved from http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/develop-a-plan/main

Document: Budget Worksheet (Word document)

Document: Point Mar Case Study (PDF)

Document: Personnel Worksheet (Word document)

Document: Budget Worksheet Example 1 (PDF)

Document: Budget Worksheet Example 2 (PDF)

Required Media

Laureate Education.(Producer). (2014a). Administer and manage health education programs [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Quiz: Check Your Knowledge

Review your Learning Resources for this week that focus on health educator roles, certifications, and responsibilities to prepare for the Check Your Knowledge Quiz.

By Day 7

This is a 10-point, 20 multiple-choice question content review that will assess your mastery of this week’s Learning Resources. You can take the Quiz multiple times. The Quiz is automatically graded and your highest score submitted by Day 7 will count as your final grade.

Final Project Component 3

As a health educator, designing and developing health education programs will be an important aspect of your role. Central to the health education model and framework for your proposed health education program, you will need to also consider the budgetary and personnel requirements to ensure that your program is administered appropriately. For example, how much funding will your health education program require to be administered over a 5-month period? Would you need a research assistant or data manager to assist in the implementation of your health education program? Would it be necessary to hire other health-related personnel or staff such as a nurse, dietitian, or physical activity specialist for your program?

Questions like these in addition to others related to necessary resources, such as office supplies, office space, compensation for participants, etc.…help health educators in the design and development of their health education program. Additionally, taking the steps to plan out their program, budgetary and personnel requirements also represent important criteria when seeking grant funding through proposal development. These considerations are important in determining how successful your health education program may be.

For this Assignment, review the Point Mar Case Study and download the Budget Worksheet and the Personnel Worksheet provided in this week’s Learning Resources. Consider the budgetary and personnel needs for the administration and implementation of your health education program to address the health issue that you selected in Week 2 for the Final Project.

Note: In grading this Assignment, your Instructor uses the Final Project Components Rubric, located in the Course Information area. Review the Rubric prior to completing your Assignment.

The Assignment: (2–4 pages)

• Complete the budget worksheet for your health education program.
• Complete the personnel worksheet for your health education program. Be sure to include brief job descriptions and qualifications needed for the personnel identified. Be specific and provide examples.
  Note: Be sure to include the salary associated with these job roles and they match the salaries identified in the budget worksheet.

By Day 7

HLTH 6110/HLTH 8110:Week 6: Administer and Manage Health Education Programs

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION;

Identify personnel needs for health education programs

Introduction

Health education programs are designed to educate the public about health issues. They can be used to promote healthy lifestyles, prevent disease and improve health outcomes. There are many ways you can organize a health education program, but it is important that you identify personnel needs before beginning implementation of your vision.

Personnel needs are determined by the size, scope and content of the program.

Personnel needs are determined by the size, scope and content of the program.

• The size of the program: Health education programs need to be large enough to educate a target population about an issue or problem. For example, if you want to teach people how to quit smoking cigarettes in one day, then your program must be large enough for all students at your school (or facility) to attend. On the other hand, if your goal is simply trying not only develop but also sustain healthy eating habits among students who may already have some knowledge about nutrition from home life then this would require smaller groups such as small groups within classrooms or even lunchtime clubs where participants meet together outside their regular classroom time during recess periods so they can discuss topics related specifically towards improving health outcomes through dieting practices such as losing weight while still enjoying good food choices that don’t compromise taste buds!

Programs should be designed to fit available personnel resources.

The first step in planning a health education program is to determine the needs of your personnel. The size and scope of the program, as well as its content, should be taken into consideration. If you have limited resources available for health education programs, it is important to identify specific titles or roles that can help fill these gaps.

To ensure effective implementation of health education programs throughout your organization, it’s critical that you understand how many people will be needed on-site during each session (or series). This information will help you plan out how many staff members will be required in order to deliver high quality content while minimizing costs associated with travel expenses and overtime payouts when necessary!

Programs must present a clear rationale for personnel needs.

If you’re planning to implement a health education program, it’s important to be able to justify the need for personnel. This can be done by showing that your organization has identified an appropriate audience and is likely to benefit from their participation in the program.

You should also be able to show that there are no better alternatives available at this time, such as:

• A similar program already exists (and it was not successful)

• The cost of implementing another similar-type project would exceed $10 million dollars ($20 million dollars if implemented over three years)

Designing programs that use existing staff with new duties helps to minimize personnel costs.

If you have a health education program that has been in place for years, it may be time for a change. The best way to reduce your costs is by using existing staff with new duties and volunteers. You can also use new titles for staff members who are already experienced at teaching or working with children, but want to take on additional responsibilities.

If your organization doesn’t have enough qualified people available or if they aren’t interested in taking on this additional responsibility, then consider hiring someone from another organization or agency who will fill these roles while they’re still being trained by your organization (this is called “cross-training”).

The use of volunteers can reduce the demand for paid personnel.

• Volunteers can reduce the demand for paid personnel.

• A volunteer may be more motivated than a paid staff member, and therefore able to do more with less effort by focusing on specific tasks rather than general responsibilities.

• Volunteers may be more flexible than staff members whose time is considered valuable and non-negotiable (e.g., doctors). For example, volunteers are often available at night or on weekends when health educators’ availability may not be optimal due to other obligations such as family or work commitments; however this flexibility also means that volunteers need less training and support from their organization before being able to contribute effectively as part of an ongoing program (see “Volunteers”).

Specific titles, such as coordinator or project director, may not be required.

With the help of human resources, consider what administrative support staff can do to help with your education program. If you have a coordinator or project director who will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the program, this person may not need a specific title like coordinator or project director. You may also decide that some other duties of the program are assumed by administrative support staff instead of hiring someone specifically as an administrator. For example, if you have someone on your team who has expertise in health education and knows how best to implement it into existing programs at your organization, then they could fill this role instead of hiring someone from outside.

If you don’t need someone with administrative experience but want someone who has leadership skills and can handle any issues that arise during implementation such as budgeting or scheduling needs (such as finding time in their schedule), consider asking other members on your staff if there’s anyone else who could take over these responsibilities temporarily while still maintaining their regular duties while working full-time on other projects within their department(s).

Staff your program before implementing your vision.

Before you begin implementing your vision, it is important to think about how you are going to staff your program. This can be a challenge when working with limited resources and limited time. You need to start by identifying the size and scope of your program as well as its content. Then design the program to fit available personnel resources (i.e., instructors, assistants) and content-specific training needs (i.e., health education).

Considerations should also include clear rationale for personnel needs:

• What does success look like?

• Who will measure this success?

Conclusion

The key to successful implementation is careful planning. Identify the personnel needs for your program, develop a plan that fits within existing resources and consider options such as using volunteers or work-study students. By thinking through these issues before you begin implementing your vision, you can ensure that everyone involved from staff members to administrators is working toward the same goal.