Public Health (B.S.) in Public Health Promotion

Serving primarily as community educators, health promotion professionals work to promote health and prevent disease by positively influencing the behavior of individuals as well as their living and working conditions. Health promotion professionals begin their work by collecting and analyzing data to identify community needs. They then design, implement, monitor, and evaluate programs to meet those needs.

To accomplish their work, health promotion professionals need good communication skills and specialized training in techniques that encourage healthy lifestyles, policies and environments.

Programs to prevent cancer, violence, substance abuse or heart disease or to promote healthy lifestyles through physical exercise and proper nutrition are typically designed by health promotion professionals. As healthcare costs continue to rise, policy makers will increasingly turn to the preventive approaches of health promotion professionals.

The curriculum for Health Promotion pairs the Public Health curriculum with a menu of courses from health education, communication studies and counseling that are relevant to health promotion/education and social service professions. 

Key Issues

• Healthy lifestyles
• Re-emergence of TB
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Injury prevention
• Maternal and child health
• Chronic diseases
• Diet, smoking cessation
• Occupational safety and health
• Drugs and alcohol
• Violence prevention
• Initiatives for a sustainable society 

Job Trends

• The AIDS epidemic with its related complex medical, legal, economic and social issues is expected to substantially increase the need for qualified health educators throughout the world.
• There is growing demand for culturally diverse outreach workers who can speak a second language and are trained in behavioral and community-based intervention technologies to both educate and empower populations at risk to improve and enhance their health status.
• Greater emphasis on integrating health promotion and disease prevention in capitated health plans (managed care) is rapidly increasing in primary care settings as well as in community-based outreach programs.
• Educators trained in maternal and child health, nutrition, sanitation, industrial hygiene, population control and prevention of disease will increasingly find career opportunities in developing countries. 

Affiliated Sites

The Public Health Program is affiliated with over 120 health care agencies in the Northern Illinois Region which offer Internships to students.  These same sites also frequently employ our alums. 

Resources

• National Commission for Health Education Credentialing
• Illinois Society for Public Health Education
• Illinois Public Health Association
• Trends in Social Service Professions