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What does a health communication specialist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

A health communication specialist is responsible for managing public health communications by disseminating information to various media platforms. Health communication specialists analyze the current medical trends and coordinate with medical professionals to gain more details and discuss health issues with the community. They also promote and share advice in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and development. A health communication specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills to support the community people with their medical needs and concerns.

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Health communication specialist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real health communication specialist resumes:

  • Work with patients at clinic to gain access and use patient portal to manage health care.
  • Provide communications support to CDC emergency operations.
  • Collaborate with care teams to identify, refer and schedule patients in need of nutritional services.
  • Conduct and document outreach activities to evaluate immunization needs in assign areas.
  • Promote CDC activities through written and verbal communication with current and potential stakeholders.
  • Establish quality improvement strategies with healthcare providers to increase childhood and adolescent immunization rates.
  • Prepare and maintain complete and accurate medical documentation as required by the tuberculosis control program for evaluation and statistical purposes.
  • Accompany PHAS on monthly visits to maintain the quality and integrity of field activities.
  • Inform patients, and family members about nutrition, diabetes, hypertension, and weight control in classroom settings.
  • Develop and distribute educational pamphlets to health departments on cervical and breast cancer detection and prevention.

Health communication specialist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Health Communication Specialists are proficient in Health Education, Patients, and Fact Sheets. They’re also known for soft skills such as Ability to use technology, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.

We break down the percentage of Health Communication Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Health Education, 10%

    Conduct needs assessments to identify educational priorities and needs among diverse audiences interested in public health education.

  • Patients, 9%

    Developed, revised, and evaluated more than 40 publications for cancer patients, health professionals, and the public.

  • Fact Sheets, 5%

    Created educational materials including fact sheets, posters, e-newsletters, articles and website content for health communication campaign.

  • Subject Matter Experts, 4%

    Interview subject matter experts to plan, develop, implement, and create scientific-related stories for our internal audience.

  • Web Content, 4%

    Assisted with the development of talking points, web content, and print materials as needed.

  • Health Promotion, 4%

    Developed nationwide health promotion campaign for children.

Common skills that a health communication specialist uses to do their job include "health education," "patients," and "fact sheets." You can find details on the most important health communication specialist responsibilities below.

Ability to use technology. One of the key soft skills for a health communication specialist to have is ability to use technology. You can see how this relates to what health communication specialists do because "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to use advanced technology." Additionally, a health communication specialist resume shows how health communication specialists use ability to use technology: "administer marketing campaigns to increase program exposure among targeted portuguese speaking community by promoting health educational materials and hosting events. "

Communication skills. Many health communication specialist duties rely on communication skills. "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to communicate safety instructions and concerns to employees and managers," so a health communication specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways health communication specialist responsibilities rely on communication skills: "develop program materials, public health communication and marketing strategies; and hiv/aids prevention and health education messages. "

Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of health communication specialists is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday health communication specialist duties, as "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians need to understand and follow safety standards and complex government regulations." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provided community based, recovery oriented, mental health skills building/training services to adults diagnosed with severe mental illness. "

Physical stamina. A big part of what health communication specialists do relies on "physical stamina." You can see how essential it is to health communication specialist responsibilities because "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to stand for long periods and be able to travel regularly." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical health communication specialist tasks: "assist in the detection of at-risk patients and development of plans to prevent further psychological or physical deterioration. "

Problem-solving skills. Another common skill required for health communication specialist responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." This skill comes up in the duties of health communication specialists all the time, as "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to solve problems in order to design and implement workplace processes and procedures that help protect workers from hazardous conditions." An excerpt from a real health communication specialist resume shows how this skill is central to what a health communication specialist does: "resolved and clarified issues regarding patient examinations for respiratory protection requirement. "

All health communication specialist skills

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Compare different health communication specialists

Health communication specialist vs. Plant safety leader

Plant Safety Leaders are responsible for ensuring the organization's facility adheres to all safety policies and regulations. Their duties include advising employees on safety work culture, develop safe work practices programs, and make sure projects' operations fulfill legal safety requirements. They are also involved in conducting accident investigations, implementing safety worksite processes, and producing safety reports. Plant Safety Leaders carry out safety and risk assessments, perform emergency response evaluations, and facilitate staff departments' training sessions.

The annual salary of plant safety leaders is $25,881 higher than the average salary of health communication specialists.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a health communication specialist are more likely to require skills like "health education," "patients," "fact sheets," and "subject matter experts." On the other hand, a job as a plant safety leader requires skills like "osha," "continuous improvement," "safety audits," and "safety procedures." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

The education levels that plant safety leaders earn slightly differ from health communication specialists. In particular, plant safety leaders are 16.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a health communication specialist. Additionally, they're 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Health communication specialist vs. Safety trainer

The Safety Trainer ensures that all employees are safe from dangers and are educated well on handling threats and problems. Alongside this, the Safety Trainer properly educates and informs all company employees on the company's safety protocols and procedures. It is the safety trainer's discretion on how they will be able to conduct workshops and seminars for all employees. The safety trainer is an administrative task, and the position is open for people with relevant skills concerning office works.

A career as a safety trainer brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a health communication specialist. In fact, safety trainers salary is $4,396 lower than the salary of health communication specialists per year.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, health communication specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "health education," "patients," "fact sheets," and "subject matter experts." Meanwhile, a safety trainer has duties that require skills in areas such as "osha," "cdl," "safety training," and "fall protection." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Safety trainers may earn a lower salary than health communication specialists, but safety trainers earn the most pay in the energy industry with an average salary of $62,203. On the other hand, health communication specialists receive higher pay in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $60,109.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Safety trainers tend to reach lower levels of education than health communication specialists. In fact, they're 16.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Health communication specialist vs. Safety advisor

Safety Advisors are responsible for overseeing a safe workplace environment and ensuring compliance with safety policies and regulations of an organization. Their duties include conducting risk assessments, demonstrating safe operational procedures, conducting site inspection as well as developing health and safety policies. They also maintain inspection findings records, produce improvement and management reports, manage hazardous substance disposal, and undertake safe equipment installation. Safety Advisors ensure workplace adhere to legislation and advise on areas related to machinery safeguards, occupational diseases, noise as well as fire regulations.

On average scale, safety advisors bring in higher salaries than health communication specialists. In fact, they earn a $6,446 higher salary per year.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from health communication specialist resumes include skills like "health education," "patients," "fact sheets," and "subject matter experts," whereas a safety advisor is more likely to list skills in "osha," "risk assessments," "safety procedures," and "related training. "

Safety advisors typically earn lower educational levels compared to health communication specialists. Specifically, they're 16.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Health communication specialist vs. Safety instructor

The duties and responsibilities include coordinating classes on safety procedures, advising management on problems and possible solutions, and meeting safety compliance requirements.

Safety instructors typically earn lower pay than health communication specialists. On average, safety instructors earn a $19,516 lower salary per year.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "health education," "patients," "fact sheets," and "subject matter experts" are skills that commonly show up on health communication specialist resumes. On the other hand, safety instructors use skills like cpr, customer service, course materials, and safety courses on their resumes.In general, safety instructors hold lower degree levels compared to health communication specialists. Safety instructors are 15.0% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of health communication specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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