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What does a public health worker do?

Updated January 8, 2025
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Public health worker responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real public health worker resumes:

  • Maintain village right of ways, mowing grass, trimming trees, plowing snow, paving and patching roadways.
  • Mow or edge lawns using power mowers/Edgers.
  • Obtain CDL license through city and operate tandem dump trucks.
  • Prepare events by setting up bases, dragging, mowing, cleaning and transporting utilities.
  • Operate small machinery such as large mowers, small tractors, and various company vehicles.
  • Job include cutting grass, painting, trash duties, fence building, and clearing weeds and brush
  • Perform infrastructure maintenance and expansion duties including asphalt overlie, traffic control, stripping, and storm drainage maintenance.
  • Skil in the operation and preventive maintenance of tractors, turf mowers, trucks, other automotive equipment or other gas-powered.
  • Provide case management and care coordination services to Medicaid recipients.
  • Provide one-on-one educational counseling for patients and the general community.
  • Monitor Medicaid and Medicare eligibility as well assist with application process.
  • Perform shoulder and sidewalk operation maintenance and construction, mowing and vegetation control.
  • Demonstrate outstanding customer service through assisting patients with health histories, and setting appointments
  • Utilize overhead crane to move excess heavy material to different locations around shop.
  • Operate truck mount crane for setting electric motors and to remove equipment from location to be send to shop for repairs.

Public health worker skills and personality traits

We calculated that 11% of Public Health Workers are proficient in Social Work, Public Works, and GRASS. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Interpersonal skills, and Problem-solving skills.

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

  • Social Work, 11%

    Named 1997 District Maternal and Child Health Social Worker of the Year and the 1997 District Social Worker of the Year.

  • Public Works, 11%

    Manage a crew of two other public works employees, also any seasonal employees that we hire.

  • GRASS, 8%

    Job included cutting grass, painting, trash duties, fence building, and clearing weeds and brush

  • Manual Labor, 7%

    Perform manual labor for concrete and bituminous patching and sealing of cracks in roads, structures,and buildings.

  • CDL, 7%

    Obtained my Class B CDL three years ago.

  • Mowing, 6%

    Performed shoulder and sidewalk operation maintenance and construction, mowing and vegetation control.

Most public health workers use their skills in "social work," "public works," and "grass" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential public health worker responsibilities here:

Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a public health worker 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." Public health workers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "facilitate effective behavioral interventions including documentation, airs data entry, reporting and evaluation of services. "

Interpersonal skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling public health worker duties is interpersonal skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "health education specialists and community health workers interact with many people from a variety of backgrounds." According to a public health worker resume, here's how public health workers can utilize interpersonal skills in their job responsibilities: "utilized interpersonal skills to provide excellent face to face customer service. "

Problem-solving skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of public health workers is problem-solving skills. This skill is critical to many everyday public health worker duties, as "health education specialists and community health workers must think creatively about improving the health of the community." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "clean containers, materials, supplies, or work areas, using cleaning solutions and hand tools. "

See the full list of public health worker skills

The three companies that hire the most public health workers are:

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Compare different public health workers

Public health worker vs. Assistant director of nutrition and wellness programs

It is the responsibility of the community health program coordinators to create and manage health and wellness programs based in communities. The programs are developed to address various health issues and improve residents' health outcomes for a particular state or city. The coordinators make sure that health program policies and practices are properly implemented. They maintain the budget and track the transactions or expenditures. These professionals should be able to communicate clearly, have attention to detail, and have working experience in the field.

If we compare the average public health worker annual salary with that of an assistant director of nutrition and wellness programs, we find that assistant directors of nutrition and wellness programs typically earn a $34,816 higher salary than public health workers make annually.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a public health worker are more likely to require skills like "social work," "public works," "grass," and "manual labor." On the other hand, a job as an assistant director of nutrition and wellness programs requires skills like "corporate wellness programs," "health education programs," "mental health," and "diabetes." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

On average, assistant directors of nutrition and wellness programs reach higher levels of education than public health workers. Assistant directors of nutrition and wellness programs are 11.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 4.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Public health worker vs. Community health program coordinator

A community health representative is responsible for determining the health concerns of the community people and coordinating with officials and organizations to address these needs. Community health representatives facilitate health programs and activities within the community, implementing quality health services to maintain the welfare and stability of the citizens. They also handle social promotions of sponsorships, donations, and charity events to secure financial assistance in case of emergencies and outbreaks. A community health representative must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in advocating and educating the people for health awareness.

A career as a community health program coordinator brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a public health worker. In fact, community health program coordinators salary is $6,137 higher than the salary of public health workers per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both public health workers and community health program coordinators have skills such as "public health," "community resources," and "health education. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, public health worker responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "social work," "public works," "grass," and "manual labor." Meanwhile, a community health program coordinator has duties that require skills in areas such as "health services," "data collection," "mental health," and "health promotion." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Community health program coordinators may earn a higher salary than public health workers, but community health program coordinators earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $50,255. On the other hand, public health workers receive higher pay in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $40,075.community health program coordinators earn higher levels of education than public health workers in general. They're 18.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 4.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Public health worker vs. Community health representative

A community health intern is responsible for assisting the community staff with the health services and responsibilities for the citizens. Community health interns should help in identifying health opportunities, provide solutions for community health problems, and inform citizens of health issues. They also suggest programs promote a healthy environment, research and create reports on health education, and communicate with health departments for health services. A community health intern must have excellent communication and organizational skills, as well as time-management and the ability to multi-task to perform duties in a fast-paced environment under minimal supervision.

On average scale, community health representatives bring in lower salaries than public health workers. In fact, they earn a $7,097 lower salary per year.By looking over several public health workers and community health representatives resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "social work," "medicaid," and "community resources." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a public health worker is likely to be skilled in "public works," "grass," "manual labor," and "cdl," while a typical community health representative is skilled in "customer service," "patients," "community health," and "community outreach."

Community health representatives make a very good living in the telecommunication industry with an average annual salary of $42,527. On the other hand, public health workers are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $40,075.Most community health representatives achieve a similar degree level compared to public health workers. For example, they're 3.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Public health worker vs. Community health internship

Community health interns average a lower salary than the annual salary of public health workers. The difference is about $9,921 per year.While both public health workers and community health interns complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like public health, community resources, and psychosocial assessments, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between public health workers and community health interns, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a public health worker might have more use for skills like "social work," "public works," "grass," and "manual labor." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of community health interns require skills like "patients," "mental health," "intake assessments," and "crisis intervention. "

In general, community health interns earn the most working in the government industry, with an average salary of $35,994. The highest-paying industry for a public health worker is the government industry.The average resume of community health interns showed that they earn higher levels of education compared to public health workers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 9.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.0%.

Types of public health worker

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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