Health promotion aims to enrich the health of individuals through awareness in environmental factors, education, and behavior. Health promotion can be described as a way to positively guide the psychological, environmental, biological, and physical health of individuals and communities. Health promotion can include behavior, skills, attitudes, and health knowledge. By being educated on this topic, individuals can help prevent disease and increase their quality of life through behavior changes. Through education and prevention, individuals may reduce financial costs for themselves, employers, and what insurance companies might spend for medical treatment.
Individuals working in the health field may be responsible to administer the following tasks: construct social marketing and mass media campaigns, organize community action, conduct research for scholarly articles, and assess, develop and implement health education programs. Workers may also be responsible for writing grants and advocating for community needs.
Those considering earning a degree in health promotion should be interested in issues in fitness and wellness and the health of others. They should want to advocate for healthy living and come up with creative ideas for healthy lifestyle changes. A career in promoting healthy living could include helping individuals manage and treat stress, physical inactivity, substance and alcohol abuse, insufficient nutrition, and unsafe sexual activity. In this field, workers may be responsible for offering behavior change suggestions, and setting realistic goals for their clients, and following up on medical screenings and appointments. Students may be suited for careers in hospital programs, fitness programs, government and nonprofit health agencies, hospitals, and schools. Those with a degree in health promotion may also be qualified to be a personal health coach, work in a health and wellness center, or in a pregnancy facility or program.
Promoting health goes a step beyond health education by requiring intensive-specific study. Students may take classes in stress management, anatomy and physiology, and health management. Those in this field may be employed through schools by teaching a health class, or working in health services to promote a healthy lifestyle for students. Colleges may hire individuals with a degree in health promotion to teach a course, promote community organizing, or train peers in disease prevention. Individuals deciding to pursue a health degree may take foundational courses such as nutrition, psychology, biology, and statistics. Through studying health education and promotion, participants should be able to help other improve their own wellness in order to live a longer and more satisfying life.