Jobs / Education and social services / 21-1091.00
Health Education Specialists
Provide and manage health education programs that help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles. Use data to identify community needs prior to planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programs designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, policies, and environments. May link health systems, health providers, insurers, and patients to address individual and population health needs. May serve as resource to assist individuals, other health professionals, or the community, and may administer fiscal resources for health education programs.
- US jobs
- 65,690
- Median wage
- $64,070 a year
- Job family
- Education and social services
Can agents do the work of health education specialists?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Education and social services:
- Task levelUnexploredNo task-level benchmark in our collection tests teaching, counseling, or casework.
- Project levelPartialThin, adjacent evidence only. GDPval, which spans 44 occupations, is the one benchmark in our collection mapped here. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons across all GDPval occupations. No benchmark tests work with students or clients.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in education and social services, not always this occupation's tasks.
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Prepare and distribute health education materials, such as reports, bulletins, and visual aids, to address smoking, vaccines, and other public health concerns.
- Develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with agencies and organizations interested in public health care.
- Maintain databases, mailing lists, telephone networks, and other information to facilitate the functioning of health education programs.
- Document activities and record information, such as the numbers of applications completed, presentations conducted, and persons assisted.
- Develop and present health education and promotion programs, such as training workshops, conferences, and school or community presentations.
- Collaborate with health specialists and civic groups to determine community health needs and the availability of services and to develop goals for meeting needs.
- Develop, conduct, or coordinate health needs assessments and other public health surveys.
- Supervise professional and technical staff in implementing health programs, objectives, and goals.
- Develop operational plans and policies necessary to achieve health education objectives and services.
- Provide program information to the public by preparing and presenting press releases, conducting media campaigns, or maintaining program-related Web sites.
- Develop and maintain health education libraries to provide resources for staff and community agencies.
- Design and conduct evaluations and diagnostic studies to assess the quality and performance of health education programs.
Other job titles for this occupation (51)
Certified Diabetes Educator · Clinical Instructor · Community Health Consultant · Education Coordinator · Health Education Coordinator · Health Education Specialist · Health Educator · Health Promotion Specialist · Public Health Educator · Public Information Officer · Behavioral Health Educator · BLS Instructor (Basic Life Support Instructor) · Breastfeeding Educator · Breastfeeding Peer Counselor · Certified Breastfeeding Educator (CBE) · Certified Health Education Specialist · Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) · Certified Lactation Educator · Clinical Educator · Clinical Nurse Educator · Clinical Trial Educator · Community Educator · Community Health Education Coordinator · Community Health Educator · Community Health Worker (CHW) · CPR and First Aid Instructor (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and First Aid Instructor) · CPR Instructor (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Instructor) · Diabetes Educator · Early Breastfeeding Care Specialist · Education Specialist · Educator · Fitness Coach · Health Coach · Health Screener · Healthcare Educator · Healthcare Specialist · Instructor · Lactation Consultant · Lactation Specialist · Lamaze International Breastfeeding Support Specialist · Nurse Educator · Nutrition Educator · PCT Preceptor (Patient Care Technician Preceptor) · Public Health Advisor · Public Health Analyst · Public Health Instructor · Public Health Officer · Public Health Representative · Public Health Specialist · Public Health Technologist · Registered Nurse Educator (RN Educator)