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The United States CHES Program: The Role and Development of the Modern Health Educator  

Sohn, Ae-Ree (Department of Health Management, Sahmyook University)
Burzo, Jamie (Graduate School of Health Science and Social Welfare, Sahmyook University)
Publication Information
Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion / v.27, no.5, 2010 , pp. 63-71 More about this Journal
Abstract
Objectives: The field of health education is still relatively new and is therefore evolving and developing rapidly throughout the world. Many countries' certification programs are still being created. This paper will discuss on the US CHES system of regulation, accreditation, and implementation for the future development of international health education programs. Methods: This article focuses on the United States CHES credentialing program, specifically on its historical development and the roles, employment settings and socioeconomic demographics of current CHES professionals through literature review. Results: The roles and skills required vary by employment setting, with seven universally recognized responsibilities of health educators. There are also 35 key competencies which are crucial to the role of the health educator, with 163 sub-competencies performed by all health educators. The employment of health educators will increase from 62,000 in 2006 to 78,000 in 2016. As the costs of healthcare increase, employers are projected to hire more health educators to decrease healthcare costs through prevention and early detection of chronic illnesses. Community health non-profit agencies, academia, healthcare (hospital/clinic), schools, government/government contracting, and businesses are some of the most widespread employment settings for health educators in the United States. Conclusion: Better understanding of this longstanding and successful program will benefit countries developing their own certification system. The variety and specificity of the information on the US CHES program may be of value as South Korea continues to develop its Korean CHES program.
Keywords
CHES; Health education; Credentialing program;
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