INTRODUCTION

We recently established this section to share information from CCLDHE member presentations on best practices and promising practices in health education. Check back regularly to see what we've added. To include a presentation, please contact the CCLDHE Webmaster. To include a presentation, please contact the CCLDHE Webmaster.

CCLDHE Standards of Practice for Public Health Education in
California Local Health Departments

CCLDHE hopes that these standards will be helpful to your health department's understanding and use of the skills and competencies available in health education units. We encourage you to review and share this document with others in your department. We strive to make these standards as useful as possible and would welcome any feedback or suggestions for future updates. Thank you very much for your consideration. Please feel free to contact CCLDHE with your comments or questions. Click here to download the standards (PDF).

Community Engagement in Public Health
Author: Mary Anne Morgan, MPH

This article introduces the Ladder of Community Participation as a way to illustrate a range of approaches that can be used to engage communities around both traditional and emerging public Health Issues. Ms. Morgan is Director of Public Health Outreach, Education, and Collaboration for the Contra Costa Health Services, which produced the article with partial funding from the California Endowment. Please click here to download the PDF.

Continuing Education Needs of Health Education Staff
Authors: Jacqueline Valenzuela, MPH, CHES, Girisha Colleary, MPH

This presentation, which was presented at the 2008 SOPHE Mid-Year Scientific Conference, highlights the work of the Los Angeles County’s health education unit to identified "Continuing-Education Needs of the Currently Employed Public Health Education Workforce" as an eminent source regarding health educators’ national continuing education needs. Its premise: health education-specific competencies must be addressed to provide meaningful professional development for health educators. Participant input and an organized and cooperative approach to training are also important. Resulting data reflected national level needs. BLS data is used to develop HEA’s training schedule in collaboration with programs within DPH's Division of Quality Improvement and local public health schools/programs. Click here to download the PDF.

Distinction Through Diversity
Author: Mary Strode, MPH

This article by CCLDHE member, , paints a great picture of what it's like to make your living as a health educator. In "Disticntion Through Diversity: A Career Health Educator's Story," Ms. Strode relates her experiences over the years working in the field of health education. The article was originally published in the Winter 2004 issue of the Californian Journal of Health Promotion. Click here to download the PDF.

Making the Case for a Standardized Health Education Curriculum in Accredited Public Health Institutions
Authors: Kimberly Kisler, MPH, CHES, Jacqueline Valenzuela, MPH, CHES, Erika Gist-Siever, MPH, CHES

California Code stipulates that "A health educator hold a master's degree with specialization in public or community health education." In response, Health Education Administration (HEA), Los Angeles County’s central health education unit, assessed the status of health education within California’s eleven Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accredited schools/programs. This presentation, delivered at the 2008 SOPHE Mid-Year Scientific Conference, reviewd the findings of this assessment: (1) All but one of the eleven institutions has a health education track; (2) The track titles are not consistently "public or community health education" and; (3) The core curricula for the health education tracks vary. The authors also make suggestions for establishing quality assurance mechanisms that would assure health educators enter the workforce with comparable skill sets while clarifying ambiguities within California Code. Please click here to download a copy (PDF).