Health promotion specialist
Health promotion specialists, sometimes called health education specialists, help people to improve their health and increase their control over it. Roles may vary from giving face to face advice to individuals to producing strategic policies for health promotion. They may set up schemes designed to promote a healthy lifestyle, carry them through and assess afterwards whether they were successful.
Health promotion specialists work with a wide range of audiences including hospitals, schools, workplaces, neighbourhoods and cultural communities. They educate on a number of different issues such as drug misuse, the dangers of smoking or excessive alcohol consumption, healthy eating and sexual health.
Many health promotion specialists work at a local level, but others have more strategic roles with national organisations working on health improvement in the general public.
Due to the diverse nature of the job there is no standard role but typical activities may include:
Although this area of work is open to graduates of many disciplines, the following degrees are particularly useful:
Entry with an HND may be possible for candidates with extensive relevant pre-entry experience and/or a relevant professional qualification. A one year top up programme in health promotion is available for those with a relevant foundation degree or diploma.
Some jobs require a postgraduate diploma or MSc in a related subject such as health promotion, public health or health development, but this is dependent on the actual job role and employer.
Applicants should have an interest in health improvement and some employers will look for previous experience in this area. Related voluntary work or work shadowing may therefore be helpful.
Candidates need to show evidence of the following qualities and skills:
They should also be good at building and maintaining relationships with individuals and organisations (including public, private, community and voluntary bodies).
To find out more you should visit public health organisations, such as primary care trusts and specialist health promotion units, and talk to practitioners. Think about the area of health promotion that you may wish to specialise in. You may be able to take short training courses in areas such as stopping smoking, working with patient groups (see the Expert Patients Programme) and other skills-based training, for example in research, teaching or counselling.
Competition for posts varies with geographical location and particular specialisms. Health improvement is very much on the UK government's agenda and there are increasing opportunities for individuals with relevant skills.
For more information, see work experience and internships and search courses and research.
Training for health promotion specialists tends to be mainly on the job. External short courses are available on a range of topics including group work skills, monitoring and evaluating health promotion and developing health leaflets. The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) offers relevant training courses such as the Level 1 Award in Health Awareness and the Level 2 Award in Health Promotion. See their website for further details.
There may also be training and updates on issues such as HIV/AIDS, alcohol awareness, healthy eating and sexual health. Attending conferences will also be a useful way to keep up to date with progressions in the industry.
There may be the opportunity of doing a postgraduate qualification for those who do not already have one. Some employers will support this and allow a day release for study. Although most employers do support continuing professional development (CPD), the amount of support varies. The amount of funding available for training is also variable and is subject to local conditions.
For health promotion specialists, career development may consist of moving on to more senior roles such as senior health promotion specialist. After this grade, further progression to assistant manager is possible. These senior posts may involve taking on more responsibility of projects and staff, along with more strategic work.
The organisation in which a health promotion specialist works may determine what course of career development they take. Small health promotion units may not have much room for promotion, meaning that competition for any senior posts that do become available will be strong. Some health promotion specialists may therefore take a sideways step to a different organisation, which will allow them to gain experience in other areas such as government agencies or charities. Moving to a larger organisation will also increase the chances of there being a structured career path leading up to management level.
There may also be opportunities for secondments to other departments and areas of work. Some health promotion specialists develop careers as freelance consultants but this is usually after significant experience has been built up.
The main employer of health promotion specialists in the UK is The National Health Service (NHS) via primary care trusts.
Other employers include:
International opportunities exist with organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and charities working in international development such as Oxfam and Save the Children .
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