An Assessment of Health Education Competencies Addressed in Health Education Professional Literature

Abstract

This study investigated how the seven responsibilities of the health education profession, outlined from the 1978–1988 Role Delineation Project, along with their accompanying competencies, have been addressed in the professional literature. An evaluation instrument was designed to facilitate the identification of the responsibilities and competencies in the professional literature. The researchers piloted the instrument to test for validity and inter- and intrarater reliability (Pi = .73–.88; intrarater = 0.88–1.0), and a sample was selected. Articles were selected from five peer-reviewed 1997–1998 health education professional journals (n = 841). Included in the analysis were research articles, nonresearch articles, articles in brief, Community Learning Ideas and Procedures, and teaching techniques from each of the five journals. Excluded from the study were annotations, editorials, items in brief, and personal commentaries. A random sample of articles (n = 131), stratified by journal, was divided equally among the five researchers to read and evaluate. Results of the analysis indicate that the competencies are not addressed uniformly in the five professional journals. Responsibilities I (assessing needs) and IV (evaluating programs) were the most frequently addressed in the literature; Responsibility V (coordinating services) was addressed least frequently. These findings suggest that editorial boards of professional journals should clarify the roles of their respective journals in the continued professional development of their members.