232446 Unification of the health education profession: Implications for public health

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM

Diane Edith Allensworth, PhD , National Center for Health Marketing, CDC, Division of Partneships and Strategic Alliances, Atlanta, GA
David Birch, PhD , Department of Health Science, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Thomas Davis, HSD , Division of Health Promotion and Education, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA
In this special session, panelists representing the American Association for the Advancement of Health Education (AAHE), the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE), the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC), and the National Task Force for Accreditation will discuss the recent discussions that have been occurring wherein AAHE is developing a plan to leave the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, and join with other health education organizations (most notably SOPHE) for the specific purpose of unifying the health education profession. This is a major challenge that is facing the health education profession and it is important that our constituencies be fully aware of the ramifications, advantages, and disadvantages and potential timeline for this unification effort.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
• Participants will be able to describe the rationale for unification of the health education profession. • Participants will be able to explain the advantages of unification for the health education profession and for public health. • Participants will be able to describe why unification of the health education profession is an important milestone for the profession.

Keywords: Health Education, Professionalism

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the President of SOPHE and am involved in the merger being discussed in this presentation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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