What does a health educator do?
A health educator is responsible for promoting a healthy lifestyle and wellness by developing programs and practices to improve an individual's physical, emotional, and mental condition, recommending a various approach to deal with stress and anxiety, and other situations affecting the clients' behaviors. Health educators record the clients' progress, educate them about healthy strategies and approaches, and coordinate with other health specialists and medical professionals on disseminating health information. A health educator must have excellent communication skills, especially during public speaking and seminars for health education programs.
Health educator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real health educator resumes:
- Manage day-to-day evolving aspects of the HHS Zika virus response.
- Engage with members' telephonically, using motivational interviewing techniques to assist members' in achieving their health goals.
- Work with an interdisciplinary staff within HHS and across other federal agencies.
- Support of Norton patients by telephone providing information for community resources for new mothers and providing medical counseling concerning their prenatal/postnatal condition
- Recertify in CPR and first aid training
- Enroll medical entities to receive NYC DOHMH quarterly report/semi-annual report profiling epidemic of HIV/AIDS in NYC.
- Provide training and supervision to support staff involve in the 2009-2010 NYC H1N1 school vaccination program.
- Develop, implement, monitor and evaluate immunization education programs.
- Facilitate and develop hypertension workshop for hypertensive patients and pre-hypertensive patients.
- Draft and disseminate educational material for Molina Medicaid and Medicare members.
- Develop and maintain effective working relationship with all facilities involve in TB management and treatment.
- Design, coordinate and present workshop regarding diabetes and hypertension with support from other community organization.
- Use motivational interviewing techniques to connect meaningfully with customers to build emotional engagement and customer advocacy.
- Skil in recommending diabetes medications and insulin regimens to providers and adjusting insulin doses for optimal control.
- Organize the Latino community to promote awareness on the use/abuse of alcohol and its relationship to domestic violence.
Health educator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Health Educators are proficient in Public Health, Patients, and Community Health. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Instructional skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Health Educators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Public Health, 12%
Collaborated with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health Disease Control to ensure that consumers received necessary treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
- Patients, 10%
Developed and implemented pediatric-to-adult transition education program for patients and parents of children with Sickle Cell Disease and produce quarterly reports.
- Community Health, 8%
Collaborated with internal stakeholders and community partners to design and develop initiatives to meet community health and welfare goals and objectives.
- Health Promotion, 6%
Developed, coordinated, promoted, administered, and evaluated health education and health promotion programming for inner city populations.
- Health Education Programs, 3%
Perform day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files, documenting activities, and other information to facilitate health education programs.
- Diabetes, 3%
Collaborated with other Tribal Programs in the development of a culturally appropriate diabetes prevention curriculum for k-12th grade reservation schools.
Most health educators use their skills in "public health," "patients," and "community health" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential health educator responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a 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." Health educators often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "assist in data collection and administer evaluation materials to determine program outcomes and effectiveness. "
Instructional skills. Many health educator duties rely on instructional skills. "health education specialists and community health workers lead programs, teach classes, and facilitate discussion with clients and families.," so a health educator will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways health educator responsibilities rely on instructional skills: "facilitated groups and individual application of learning theories, statistical evaluation of effectiveness of instructional and educational presentations. "
Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of health educators is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday health educator duties, as "health education specialists and community health workers interact with many people from a variety of backgrounds." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "utilized interpersonal skills to develop rapport with clients and to provide encouragement during participation of wellness program. "
Problem-solving skills. 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 health educators do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "initiate and participate in problem-solving, policy-forming conferences for nursing/patient care services. "
The three companies that hire the most health educators are:
- Elevance Health
32 health educators jobs
- Kaiser Permanente30 health educators jobs
- Cigna28 health educators jobs
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Compare different health educators
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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between health educators and public health representative. For instance, health educator responsibilities require skills such as "community health," "health promotion," "health education programs," and "diabetes." Whereas a public health representative is skilled in "strong customer service," "phone calls," "data entry," and "hipaa." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Public health representatives really shine in the education industry with an average salary of $62,207. Comparatively, health educators tend to make the most money in the education industry with an average salary of $44,289.public health representatives tend to reach lower levels of education than health educators. In fact, public health representatives are 5.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Health educator vs. Community health worker
A community health worker is a health professional who is a lay member of the community that provides health care in both urban and rural environments. Community health workers offer the health needs of the community they serve and provide some direct services such as first aid and blood pressure screening. They help people understand their health conditions and deliver health information by using appropriate cultural terms and concepts. Community health workers also make home visits to patients who are clinically ill, pregnant women, and individuals at high risk of health problems.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that health educator responsibilities requires skills like "health promotion," "health education programs," "weight management," and "mental health." But a community health worker might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "chw," "social services," "health education," and "care coordination."
Community health workers earn a lower average salary than health educators. But community health workers earn the highest pay in the insurance industry, with an average salary of $37,529. Additionally, health educators earn the highest salaries in the education with average pay of $44,289 annually.In general, community health workers achieve lower levels of education than health educators. They're 7.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for health educators in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Stephen Graves Ph.D
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri
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.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a health educator is likely to be skilled in "patients," "community health," "blood pressure," and "community outreach," while a typical health promotion specialist is skilled in "health promotion programs," "program development," "community health promotion," and "literature reviews."
Health promotion specialists make a very good living in the non profits industry with an average annual salary of $42,022. On the other hand, health educators are paid the highest salary in the education industry, with average annual pay of $44,289.When it comes to education, health promotion specialists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to health educators. In fact, they're 4.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Health educator vs. Public health analyst
A public health analyst is responsible for evaluating health care policies and programs of medical institutions and government agencies, identifying process improvement and cost-reduction techniques without sacrificing quality care services for the citizens. Public health analysts develop medical initiatives and adjust the requirements of existing programs as needed depending on public needs and the current climate. They coordinate with other health care professionals to implement health care opportunities and inform the citizens of newly-launched programs, such as organizing events, posting on social media platforms, and site visits.
Types of health educator
Updated January 8, 2025
