What is a Health Educator?

A health educator is someone who teaches people how to incorporate positive and healthy habits into their lives. They develop programs and materials that promote wellness, and that encourage children and adults to make healthy decisions. Health educators work in a variety of settings, including schools, hospitals, non-profit organizations, government, doctors’ offices, private businesses, and colleges.

What does a Health Educator do?

A health educator teaches people how to incorporate positive and healthy habits into their lives by developing programs and materials that promote wellness.

Health educators typically do the following:

  • Assess the needs of the people they serve
  • Develop programs and events to teach people about health topics
  • Create and distribute health-related posters, pamphlets, and other educational materials
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of programs and materials
  • Help people find health services or information
  • Supervise staff who implement health education programs
  • Collect and analyze data to learn about their audience and improve programs
  • Advocate for improved health resources and policies

The duties of health educators vary based on where they work. Most work in health care facilities, colleges, public health departments, nonprofits, and private businesses. Health educators who teach health classes in middle and high schools are considered teachers.

Are you suited to be a health educator?

Health educators have distinct personalities. They tend to be social individuals, which means they’re kind, generous, cooperative, patient, caring, helpful, empathetic, tactful, and friendly. They excel at socializing, helping others, and teaching. Some of them are also enterprising, meaning they’re adventurous, ambitious, assertive, extroverted, energetic, enthusiastic, confident, and optimistic.

Does this sound like you? Take our free career test to find out if health educator is one of your top career matches.

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What is the workplace of a Health Educator like?

Health educators work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, non-profit organizations, government, doctors’ offices, private business, and colleges. Although most health educators work in an office, they may spend a lot of time away from the office to carry out programs or attend meetings.

Health Educators are also known as:
Community Health Educator Health Consultant Health Education Coordinator Health Promotion Specialist Public Health Educator