What does a community health educator do?
A community health educator promotes health and wellness to a community through various health programs. Their responsibilities include gathering and analyzing data to identify the community's needs, researching and planning activities, liaising with internal and external partners, developing health programs and activities, answering health inquiries, providing advice, and presenting educational materials to the community. They also serve as the link between healthcare services and specialists. Moreover, a community health educator must train and manage staff to provide optimal services to the community.
Community health educator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real community health educator resumes:
- Engage with members' telephonically, using motivational interviewing techniques to assist members' in achieving their health goals.
- Educate low-income populations as to proper nutrition on a budget in an effort to reduce diabetes and obesity rates.
- Educate local community via verbal presentations on nutrition guidelines and neonatal screenings by creating PowerPoint presentations and visual aids.
- Provide case management of enrollee participation to ensure completion of schedule mammograms and cervical testing.
Community health educator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Community Health Educators are proficient in Patients, Public Health, and Health Promotion. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Instructional skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Community Health Educators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 11%
Connected providers across different disciplines in order to improve communication and treatment plans for patients undergoing elective surgery.
- Public Health, 9%
Developed procedures and activities of public health education programs.
- Health Promotion, 9%
Contacted health support group facilitators interested in support groups to assist in planning health promotion activities
- Community Outreach, 6%
Facilitated staff meetings, conducted community outreach and assisted in restructuring and improving curricula.
- Disease Prevention, 6%
Worked in several programs to promote healthy lifestyles changes, disease prevention & reduction in Davis County.
- Community Health Education, 5%
Oversee and manage outpatient community health education programs* Coordinate and implement community health education programs* Provide outpatient screenings coinciding with clinical guidelines
Most community health educators use their skills in "patients," "public health," and "health promotion" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential community health educator responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a community health educator to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "health education specialists collect and evaluate data to determine the needs of the people they serve." Community health educators often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "produced monthly reports (gathered and compiled data) and weekly inquires to supervisor regarding outreach, informative and educational sessions. "
Instructional skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling community health educator duties is instructional skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "health education specialists and community health workers lead programs, teach classes, and facilitate discussion with clients and families." According to a community health educator resume, here's how community health educators can utilize instructional skills in their job responsibilities: "facilitated groups and individual application of learning theories, statistical evaluation of effectiveness of instructional and educational presentations. "
Interpersonal skills. community health educators are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to community health educator responsibilities, because "health education specialists and community health workers interact with many people from a variety of backgrounds." A community health educator resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "utilized interpersonal skills to develop rapport with clients and to provide encouragement during participation of wellness program. "
Problem-solving skills. community health educator responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "health education specialists and community health workers must think creatively about improving the health of the community." This resume example shows what community health educators do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "maintained collaborative partnerships with community agencies and citizens groups aimed at finding solutions to health problems faced by the community. "
The three companies that hire the most community health educators are:
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute6 community health educators jobs
- Atlantic Health4 community health educators jobs
- Fred Hutch4 community health educators jobs
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Compare different community health educators
Community health educator vs. Health promotion specialist
A health promotion specialist is responsible for promoting programs targeted at improving public health. They may also be known as a health care practitioner. They organize and manage health improvement programs. Furthermore, they raise awareness for good health, diet, and exercise through training and workshops. They are responsible for coming up with good health policies and schemes to assess health needs. They will also be expected to give advice and inform people on matters related to health. Therefore, they should be up to date with current trends in health promotion.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a community health educator are more likely to require skills like "patients," "community outreach," "community health education," and "mental health." On the other hand, a job as a health promotion specialist requires skills like "health promotion programs," "program development," "wellness programs," and "community health promotion." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Health promotion specialists tend to make the most money working in the non profits industry, where they earn an average salary of $42,022. In contrast, community health educators make the biggest average salary, $47,607, in the government industry.On average, health promotion specialists reach higher levels of education than community health educators. Health promotion specialists are 6.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Community health educator vs. Health coach
A Health Coach is an individual health educator who provides lifestyle and behavior guidance. They work with clients to help them feel their best through food and lifestyle changes.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real community health educator resumes. While community health educator responsibilities can utilize skills like "public health," "community outreach," "community health education," and "data collection," health coaches use skills like "customer service," "optimal health," "excellent interpersonal," and "excellent organizational."
Health coaches may earn a lower salary than community health educators, but health coaches earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $40,713. On the other hand, community health educators receive higher pay in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $47,607.health coaches earn similar levels of education than community health educators in general. They're 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for community health educators in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Stephen Graves Ph.D
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri
Community health educator vs. Health promoter
A health promoter has a myriad of responsibilities. They may be expected to promote medical services, information on topics like maternal health and hygiene, or information on malnutrition, malaria, HIV/AIDS, or other common but worrisome diseases. In addition to that, they are also responsible for the research and implementation of appropriate interventions. They are tasked with rallying team members for health promotion campaigns.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a community health educator is likely to be skilled in "disease prevention," "health education programs," "social work," and "health fairs," while a typical health promoter is skilled in "health outcomes," "health awareness," "health programs," and "local community."
When it comes to education, health promoters tend to earn lower degree levels compared to community health educators. In fact, they're 8.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Community health educator vs. Public health representative
Public Health Representatives, as a career choice, will require developed people skills, valuation of difference and diversity, creativity and adaptability, and analysis and interpretation of information. Most will have at least a bachelor's degree, and experience in other jobs can be a plus. Paying out at $53K per year, this career will necessitate collaboration with health specialists and civic groups to ascertain community health needs and services for meeting the said needs. They will also provide health education and needs assessment and health education development and delivery.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between community health educators and public health representatives, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a community health educator might have more use for skills like "health promotion," "community outreach," "disease prevention," and "community health education." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of public health representatives require skills like "patient care," "strong customer service," "phone calls," and "data entry. "
Public health representatives enjoy the best pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $62,207. For comparison, community health educators earn the highest salary in the government industry.public health representatives reach similar levels of education compared to community health educators, in general. The difference is that they're 2.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of community health educator
Updated January 8, 2025
