What are the career opportunities upon graduation? The competencies and skills you learn during your program can 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 the recent past, emphasis has been placed on professionals in non-profit, governmental, and agency settings to have the skills and training needed to communicate a variety of health-seeking behaviors to diverse populations effectively. Skills such as adapting to diverse community groups, providing effective programming in various settings, assessing the service population's needs, and using a client-centered lens to develop meaningful interventions are only a few of the needed competencies in today's job market

Employment and Job Outlook

Health Education/Promotion

An emphasis on promoting healthy behaviors, mainly based on experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to increase demand for these workers over the decade. The job outlook for the field is projected to grow 17% from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations. (Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics opens a new website)

Further, government, healthcare, and social services providers want to improve the quality of care and health outcomes while reducing costs. Health education specialists are uniquely trained to serve in this capacity. Job titles may include community outreach coordinator, patient educator, health policy coordinator, clinical diabetes educator, public health educator, community health worker, community nutrition educator, and HIV counseling specialist.

Opportunities are broadening in community and public health as more sectors recognize the critical role of communities and the environment in health. As the idea of "Health in All Policies opens a new website" continues to gain prominence, leaders in diverse fields are seeking workers who can bring public health awareness about the role of the environment in health and the connection between behavior and health outcomes.

Human Services

The job outlook for human services professionals is expected to grow by 13.9% over the next decade. Specifically, jobs for social and human service assistants and substance abuse counselors are projected to increase by 9% and 18%, respectively, from 2022 to 2032 (Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics). A contributing factor to the demand is the growing population of elderly, increased awareness of mental health needs and governmental policies aimed at expanding social services to vulnerable populations.

Graduates of this program are trained to prevent and remediate a range of problems in multiple service populations (i.e., children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly), to improve service delivery systems, accessibility, and accountability, and to facilitate coordination among agencies and professionals. They can develop treatment plans, research available and appropriate services, assist in the completion of paperwork, and monitor the quality of services rendered to their clients. Graduates with these skills become rehabilitation caseworkers, advocates, community coordinators, mental health workers, child welfare workers, social service assistants and liaisons, substance abuse counselors, probation officers, home health aides, and employment counselors.

Six Major Career Sectors in Health Education