COVID-19 Health Education Activities: An Analysis of a National Sample of Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES ® /MCHES ® ) in Response to the Global Pandemic

Abstract

The National Commission of Health Education Credentialing, Inc. (NCHEC) created the Category 1 COVID-19 Claim Form Opportunity to document how Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES^®) and Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES^®) assisted communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data submitted by CHES^®/MCHES^® (n = 3,098 claim forms), the purpose of this study was to (a) describe the settings where CHES^® and MCHES^® completed their pandemic work and (b) assess differences in the type of pandemic work completed by CHES^® compared with MCHES^® based on specific Areas of Responsibility (AOR) for Health Education Specialists. Findings showed that CHES^® and MCHES^® engaged in seven AOR during the pandemic, with the largest proportion of CHES^® (n = 859; 33%) and MCHES^® (n = 105; 21.9%, documenting COVID-19-related activities in health departments. CHES^® reported higher engagement than MCHES^® in activities such as COVID-19 reporting/tracking, χ² (1, N = 3,098) = 27.3, p < .001; outbreak response, χ² (1, N = 3,098) = 4.3, p = .039; and vaccination, χ² (1, N = 3,098) = 5.2, p = .023. Conversely, MCHES^® reported higher participation than CHES^® in screening/testing, χ² (1, N = 3,098) = 174.2, p < .001; administration of budgets/operations, χ² (1, N = 3,098) = 30.1, p < .001; and adapting educational activities at college/universities, χ² (1, N = 3,098) = 46.1, p < .001. CHES^® were more likely than MCHES^® to indicate working in all AOR except for Area 2—Plan Health Education/Promotion. Results support that employer-verified health education skills in all AOR were transferable during COVID-19, especially for CHES^® employed within state/county health departments.