Responsibility VII: Communicate and Advocate for health education
Communication and advocacy for health and health education can be accomplished or aimed at individuals, small groups or the masses. I have had the experience in all of these settings. I have served a diverse population of people and groups with health information, as well as in promoting the importance of, and informing others about the profession of health education.
Often times the idea of health education outside of the medical community is a new concept for lay people. Throughout my last three years of studying health education, I have become more clear and confident about the skills I have learned, and what they can be used for. I have been fortunate to congruently work as a wellness service provider in a health setting as a certified and licensed massage therapist in a local chiropractic office. I have built many relationships with my clients and often have the chance to not only share my knowledge and passion for health and wellness, but also the skills and services that a well-trained health education specialist can offer. I find that many of the clients I speak with have never heard of my degree or profession but after explanations and examples, come to see the benefits and realize the many hats that health educators often wear. This also helps them become aware of and interested in the trend towards proactive, preventive health and wellness in our society; which I personally promote, and feel that the health education profession focuses on.
Aside from having one on one interaction explaining and promoting the profession of health education, I have also communicated and promoted health information itself to small and large groups. I have researched and publicly delivered a minimum of 12 presentations on various health topics such as: a grant RFP for STOP TB, a healthy fats presentation for a local wellness center, age appropriate and bilingual brochures for children and parents on physical activity and obesity, epidemiology on COPD, the health status of Tajikistan, the risks of prescription drug abuse, the symptoms, effects and treatment of Chron's and Colitis. Also, during the planning process of my senior project on STI prevention, my team strategically placed group designed flyers throughout the SIUE campus, as well as assembled condom promotional products with our event's information attached and handed them out in various heavily populated areas around campus to promote our program to a wide variety of people, as well as provide them with resources for safer sex practices. We believe this promotion helped us beat the SIUE health education department's record for attendees of a single event senior project implementation. We had over 70 participants at our event, over half of which completed evaluation tools, and with improved scores on post test questions.
In addition to this promotion and training and experience, I also participated in multiple mock counseling sessions on more than 10 health topics, serving as counselor, patient and transcribing observer. In doing so, I improved my communication skills, in general, but namely related to health education topics; how to have strong introductions, encouraging skills, the ability to ask open ended questions, listening skills, dealing with confrontation, reflecting on the meaning of situations and responses to health issues, and also counseling skills related to specific health topics such as counseling someone newly diagnosed with asthma, and a patient with an injured ACL.
Lastly, aside from learning about health policies, regulations, and the enforcement of these in cities and states, I also learned about the importance of advocacy in Health Education. I then advocated for the use of helmets in co-ed sports in the Village of Edwardsville by writing personal and professional letters to the Parks and Recreation Department of Edwardsville, IL.
Below is an example of my communication and advocacy:
Often times the idea of health education outside of the medical community is a new concept for lay people. Throughout my last three years of studying health education, I have become more clear and confident about the skills I have learned, and what they can be used for. I have been fortunate to congruently work as a wellness service provider in a health setting as a certified and licensed massage therapist in a local chiropractic office. I have built many relationships with my clients and often have the chance to not only share my knowledge and passion for health and wellness, but also the skills and services that a well-trained health education specialist can offer. I find that many of the clients I speak with have never heard of my degree or profession but after explanations and examples, come to see the benefits and realize the many hats that health educators often wear. This also helps them become aware of and interested in the trend towards proactive, preventive health and wellness in our society; which I personally promote, and feel that the health education profession focuses on.
Aside from having one on one interaction explaining and promoting the profession of health education, I have also communicated and promoted health information itself to small and large groups. I have researched and publicly delivered a minimum of 12 presentations on various health topics such as: a grant RFP for STOP TB, a healthy fats presentation for a local wellness center, age appropriate and bilingual brochures for children and parents on physical activity and obesity, epidemiology on COPD, the health status of Tajikistan, the risks of prescription drug abuse, the symptoms, effects and treatment of Chron's and Colitis. Also, during the planning process of my senior project on STI prevention, my team strategically placed group designed flyers throughout the SIUE campus, as well as assembled condom promotional products with our event's information attached and handed them out in various heavily populated areas around campus to promote our program to a wide variety of people, as well as provide them with resources for safer sex practices. We believe this promotion helped us beat the SIUE health education department's record for attendees of a single event senior project implementation. We had over 70 participants at our event, over half of which completed evaluation tools, and with improved scores on post test questions.
In addition to this promotion and training and experience, I also participated in multiple mock counseling sessions on more than 10 health topics, serving as counselor, patient and transcribing observer. In doing so, I improved my communication skills, in general, but namely related to health education topics; how to have strong introductions, encouraging skills, the ability to ask open ended questions, listening skills, dealing with confrontation, reflecting on the meaning of situations and responses to health issues, and also counseling skills related to specific health topics such as counseling someone newly diagnosed with asthma, and a patient with an injured ACL.
Lastly, aside from learning about health policies, regulations, and the enforcement of these in cities and states, I also learned about the importance of advocacy in Health Education. I then advocated for the use of helmets in co-ed sports in the Village of Edwardsville by writing personal and professional letters to the Parks and Recreation Department of Edwardsville, IL.
Below is an example of my communication and advocacy:
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