What can you do with a MAEd in Community Health? It's an important question. The competencies and skills you learn during this program will enable you to work with individuals and communities to promote health and improve quality of life through health coaching and education, social service programming, and health advocacy.

In elementary, middle, and high schools, health educators teach health as a subject, promote and implement Coordinated School Health programs, foster related school-community partnerships, and encourage a healthy school environment.

In colleges and universities, health educators work to create caring communities and environments in which students feel empowered to make healthy choices, identifying needs and developing programs to address those needs, teaching courses, developing mass media campaigns, and training peer educators, counselors, and advocates.

In corporations, health educators coordinate employee education services, employee health risk appraisals, and health screenings. They design, promote, lead, and evaluate programs to address weight control, hypertension, nutrition, substance abuse prevention, physical fitness, stress management, and smoking cessation. And they write grants and develop educational materials in support of such projects.

In clinical settings, health educators teach patients about medical procedures, services, and therapeutic regimens; create activities and incentives to encourage patient compliance; train staff; consult with other health care providers about behavioral, cultural and social barriers to health; and address ways to maintain health and reduce risky behaviors.

In community organizations and government agencies, health educators identify needs and mobilize resources to improve health. They organize community and outreach efforts, write grants, build coalitions, advocate on behalf of their constituency, and develop, produce, and evaluate mass media health campaigns.