Addressing Health Education Responsibilities and Competencies Through Service Learning

It is in the best interest of all academic preparation programs in the health professions to address and adjust their programs as health and healthcare continues to change (Clark, 1999). As a result of some of these changes, health education as a profession has become more community-focused and committed to the development of community-academic partnerships. Many universities are finding themselves integrating service learning pedagogy into their professional preparation programs. As such, service learning activities provide health education majors with the opportunities to participate in community organizing and building as well as practicing many of the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC) responsibilities early on in their academic development. This paper will provide examples of how health education courses can integrate service learning pedagogy into their programs while reinforcing the seven core health education responsibilities into practice.