Toward a Unified System of Accreditation for Professional Preparation in Health Education: Final Report of the National Task Force on Accreditation in Health Education

Abstract

During the past 40 years, health education has taken significant steps toward improving quality assurance in professional preparation through individual certification and program approval and accreditation. Although the profession has begun to embrace individual certification, program accreditation in health education has been neither uniformly available nor universally accepted by institutions of higher education. To further strengthen professional preparation in health education, the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and the American Association for Health Education (AAHE) established the National Task Force on Accreditation in Health Education in 2001. The 3-year Task Force was charged with developing a detailed plan for a coordinated accreditation system for undergraduate and graduate programs in health education. This article summarizes the Task Force’s findings and recommendations, which have been approved by the SOPHE and AAHE boards, and, if implemented, promise to lay the foundation for the highest quality professional preparation and practice in health education.

Keywords

accreditation credentialing health education professional preparation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

1. Livingood WC , Auld ME : The credentialing of a population-based health profession: Lessons learned from health education certification. J Public Health Manag Pract 7:38-45, 2001.

2. National Commission for Health Education Credentialing: NCHEC News, press release. Retrieved June 7, 2004, from http://www.nchec.org/news/pressrelease.htm

3. Allegrante JP , Auld ME , Butterfoss FD , Livingood WC : La certification en education pour la santé: Son impact sur l’ évolution de la profession aux Etats-Unis [Credentialing and its impact on the evolution of the profession of health education in the United States]. La Santé de l’Homme 305 (Mai-Juin):46-53, 2001.

4. Creswell WH : Professional preparation: An historical perspective, in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (ed.): National Conference for Institutions Preparing Health Educators. Washington, DC, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC, 1981, pp. 43-60.

5. American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation , Professional Preparation Panel : Professional Preparation in Dance, Physical Education, Recreation Education, Safety Education and School Health Education. Washington, DC, American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 1974, page iv.

6. Society for Public Health Education : Statement of Functions of Community Health Educators and Minimum Requirements for Their Professional Preparation, With Recommendations for Implementation, 1967.

7. American Public Health Association , Committee on Professional Education : Criteria and Guidelines for Accrediting Graduate Programs in Community Health Education. Washington, DC, American Public Health Association, 1969.

8. Cleary HP : The Credentialing of Health Educators: An Historical Account, 1970-1990. New York, National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, 1995.

9. National Commission for Health Education Credentialing and Coalition of National Health Education Organizations : The Health Education Profession in the Twenty-First Century: Setting the Stage. Conference proceedings, Atlanta, GA, June 16-17, 1995.

10.

10. Auld ME , Gielen A , McDonald E : Practice notes: Strategies in health education—Strengthening graduate professional preparation in health education for the 21st century. Health Educ Behav 25:413-417, 1998.

11.

11. Pew Health Commission : Recreating Health Professional Practice for a New Century. Philadelphia, the Pew Charitable Trusts, 1998.

12.

12. Society for Public Health Education and American Association for Health Education : Future Directions for Quality Assurance of Professional Preparation in Health Education. Meeting report. Joint invitational meeting, Dulles, VA, January 15-16, 2000.

13.

(Reprinted in the Californian J Health Prom 2:1-11, 2004.)