What does a public health educator do?
Public Health Educators will require strong communication, work ethic, teamwork, initiative, and good interpersonal and problem-solving skills in this career. Another requirement is a bachelor's degree in education. For a yearly pay of $40K to $50K, this position calls upon the provision of wellness information to the public concerning health and safety for specific communities, as well as working with other healthcare professionals and public health departments for identification and addressing of trends within a population.
Public health educator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real public health educator resumes:
- Engage with members' telephonically, using motivational interviewing techniques to assist members' in achieving their health goals.
- Design new survey tool using qualitative and quantitative methods to monitor and evaluate quality of immunization programs at county health departments.
- Direct communication with the public on a variety of health issues relating to STDs and HIV
- Communicate with individuals, couples and groups regarding STDs and HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, and treatment.
- Design marketing Powerpoint presentations within company target market guidelines.
- Use twitter, eCards, Listservs, Facebook, RSS feeds, and podcast to promote health campaigns.
- Provide case management of enrollee participation to ensure completion of schedule mammograms and cervical testing.
Public health educator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Public Health Educators are proficient in Health Promotion, Public Health Education, and Disease Prevention. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Instructional skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Public Health Educators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Health Promotion, 10%
Prepared and presented annual budget and contract for health promotions for Lincoln County.
- Public Health Education, 8%
Developed and coordinated over 25 public health education programs.
- Disease Prevention, 7%
Develop written materials, publications and presentations regarding chronic disease prevention.
- Health Education Programs, 6%
Conceptualized community needs, initiating contact with school administrators and community service professionals and prescribing health education programs.
- Community Outreach, 4%
Provided empowering individual counseling and community outreach.
- Chronic Disease, 4%
Presented on women's health issues, and various chronic diseases through radio, television, local papers and public presentations.
Common skills that a public health educator uses to do their job include "health promotion," "public health education," and "disease prevention." You can find details on the most important public health educator responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a public health educator to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what public health educators do because "health education specialists collect and evaluate data to determine the needs of the people they serve." Additionally, a public health educator resume shows how public health educators use analytical skills: "handled operational aspects of the project including writing survey questions, interviewing community members and ensuring consistency of data collection. "
Instructional skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling public 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 public health educator resume, here's how public health educators can utilize instructional skills in their job responsibilities: "developed division wide training, education, and communication products using a variety of multimedia and instructional design techniques. "
Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of public health educators is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday public 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. Another crucial skill for a public health educator to carry out their responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." A big part of what public health educators relies on this skill, since "health education specialists and community health workers must think creatively about improving the health of the community." How this skill relates to public health educator duties can be seen in an example from a public health educator resume snippet: "identified problems and non-compliance patients and proposed solutions and actions. "
The three companies that hire the most public health educators are:
- Alaka`ina Foundation Family Of Companies2 public health educators jobs
- County of San Joaquin, CA1 public health educators jobs
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia1 public health educators jobs
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Compare different public health educators
Public 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 some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, public health educator responsibilities require skills like "public health education," "community outreach," "chronic disease," and "social work." Meanwhile a typical health promotion specialist has skills in areas such as "public health," "health promotion programs," "program development," and "wellness programs." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Health promotion specialists earn the highest salaries when working in the non profits industry, with an average yearly salary of $42,022. On the other hand, public health educators are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $40,681.The education levels that health promotion specialists earn slightly differ from public health educators. In particular, health promotion specialists are 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a public health educator. Additionally, they're 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Public 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 public health educator resumes. While public health educator responsibilities can utilize skills like "public health education," "health education programs," "community outreach," and "community health assessment," health coaches use skills like "customer service," "patients," "optimal health," and "excellent interpersonal."
Health coaches earn a higher average salary than public health educators. But health coaches earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $40,713. Additionally, public health educators earn the highest salaries in the education with average pay of $40,681 annually.health coaches earn lower levels of education than public health educators in general. They're 8.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for public health educators in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Julie Gast Ph.D.
Professor and Director, Master of Public Health, Utah State University
Public 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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, public health educators are more likely to have skills like "public health education," "disease prevention," "health education programs," and "social work." But a health promoter is more likely to have skills like "public health," "patients," "health outcomes," and "needs assessment."
When it comes to education, health promoters tend to earn lower degree levels compared to public health educators. In fact, they're 16.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Public health educator vs. Certified diabetes educator
A certified diabetes educator primarily works with patients diagnosed with prediabetes and diabetes to promote and educate them about necessary lifestyle changes and disease management strategies. As a certified diabetes educator, it is their responsibility to help patients understand their condition and how it will affect them, serve as a mentor in different self-care practices, suggest lifestyle and disease management plans, teach them about the different medication procedures and dietary needs, and coordinate other services when necessary.
Types of public health educator
Updated January 8, 2025
