Why is health education important? 5 key benefits
Key takeaways
- Health education helps individuals and communities understand health information and develop skills that promote healthier behaviors.
- Health education can improve individual and community well-being. Its benefits may include preventing chronic disease, strengthening health literacy, reducing health disparities, lowering avoidable healthcare costs, and supporting mental and emotional health.
- Health education takes place in schools, health care settings, workplaces, colleges, government agencies, and community organizations.
- Health education specialists typically need at least a bachelor’s degree.
Health education transforms health information into practical knowledge that people can use. It helps individuals and communities recognize health risks, understand preventive measures, and develop skills that support physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being.
Effective prevention requires more than knowing what to do. People must also understand why an action matters and have access to the resources needed to follow through. Health education connects these elements by making reliable health information clear, relevant, and actionable.
What is health education?
Health education is the planned, evidence-based teaching of health knowledge and skills that helps individuals and communities make informed decisions and adopt healthier behaviors.
The field combines knowledge from biological, environmental, psychological, and medical sciences. Health educators use this knowledge to identify health needs, develop and deliver programs, and evaluate how well those efforts work across different settings.
Health education also differs from simply encountering health information. Effective education is planned and sequential, and it teaches people how to use health information instead of only presenting facts.
Health education vs. health promotion
Health education is one component of health promotion, not another term for the same concept. The World Health Organization defines health promotion more broadly as enabling people to gain greater control over their health. The Ottawa Charter identifies five areas of health promotion action, including developing personal skills, which is where education plays an important role.
| Health education | Health promotion | |
| Primary focus | Developing health knowledge, skills, and informed behaviors | Improving the wider conditions that support health |
| Works on | Knowledge, skills, attitudes, and decision-making | Individual, community, environmental, organizational, and policy factors |
| Typical activity | Teaching people how to manage a health risk or make informed choices | Combining education with policy, community action, and environmental changes |
| Relationship | One tool used within health promotion | The broader approach that includes health education |
Why is health education important?
Health education is important as it helps address preventable health risks before they contribute to illness and gives people skills they can use to manage existing conditions. CDC identifies tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol use as major behavioral risk factors for preventable chronic disease.
Preventing chronic disease
Chronic disease affects a large majority of adults in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three in four U.S. adults have at least one chronic condition, and more than half have two or more. The prevalence increases with age, with more than 90% of adults age 65 and older living with at least one chronic condition. Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are among the nation’s leading causes of illness, disability, and death.
While health education cannot eliminate these conditions, it can help people understand risk factors and take appropriate preventive or self-management steps.
How health education does this:
- Explains how tobacco use, nutrition, physical activity, and alcohol use affect chronic disease risk.
- Helps people understand which preventive services and screenings may apply to them.
- Builds self-management skills for people already living with chronic conditions.
Building health literacy
Health literacy goes beyond being able to read health information. Healthy People 2030 defines personal health literacy around a person’s ability to find, understand, and use health information and services when making decisions. Organizational health literacy focuses on an organization’s responsibility to make information and services understandable and usable.
That second definition represents important change. Healthy People 2010 and 2020 focused primarily on an individual’s ability to obtain and understand information. Healthy People 2030 recognizes that health systems and other organizations also have a responsibility to make information easier to access and use.
Health education is one of the main ways personal health literacy develops because it gives people opportunities to practice using health information in real situations.
How health education does this:
- Teaches people how to understand labels, medication instructions, and discharge information.
- Helps patients know what to ask providers and how to compare health care options.
- Encourages organizations to communicate health information in clearer, more accessible language.
Reducing health disparities
Health education can improve access to useful information across communities, especially where access to health services is limited. Health educators assess community needs, develop appropriate educational materials, evaluate programs, and connect people with information and services.
Health education is particularly important in rural and underserved communities. The Rural Health Information Hub identifies distance, transportation, workforce shortages, financial barriers, and health literacy among the factors that can make health care harder to access in rural areas.
Health education also needs to account for the wider conditions affecting health. CDC describes social determinants of health as the nonmedical conditions and influences that affect health outcomes, such as where people are born, live, learn, work, and age.
How health education does this:
- Provides information in languages and cultural contexts appropriate for the community.
- Places programs and resources in communities where access is more limited.
- Helps people identify health services and resources for which they may be eligible.
Lowering long-term health care costs
Chronic diseases are major drivers of healthcare spending in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 90% of the nation’s $5.3 trillion in annual healthcare expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.
Because health education programs vary in purpose, population, and design, they do not produce a single, universal return on investment. However, effective health education can support prevention, earlier detection, and improved disease management, potentially reducing costs associated with preventable complications and avoidable use of healthcare services.
How health education does this:
- Encourages preventive screening and earlier detection.
- Helps people understand when different types of health care services are appropriate.
- Supports medication adherence, follow-up care, and management of existing conditions.
Supporting mental and emotional health
Health education also addresses mental and emotional well-being. It can teach practical approaches to stress management and sleep, explain when and where to seek support, and improve understanding of mental health concerns.
Education can also help reduce stigma by making conversations about mental health more routine in schools, workplaces, and communities.
How does health education do this?
- Teaches stress-management and healthy sleep practices as skills.
- Explains how and where to seek mental health support.
- Normalizes conversations about mental and emotional health in everyday settings.
Where health education happens
Health education reaches people across various settings where they live, learn, work, and receive care.
In hospitals and other health care settings, educators may help patients and families understand diagnoses, treatments, prevention, and disease management. Colleges and universities may provide education on nutrition, sexual health, substance use, stress management, and other concerns affecting student well-being.
Workplace health education may focus on employee wellness, safety, and injury prevention. Government agencies and community organizations develop programs, coordinate outreach, pursue funding, and respond to health needs within specific populations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) identifies hospitals, government, and other community settings among the workplaces for health education specialists.
| Setting | What health education may look like | Who it reaches |
| Health care settings | Disease management, prevention, screenings, and patient education | Patients and families |
| Colleges and universities | Nutrition, mental health, sexual health, substance-use, and wellness programs | Students |
| Workplaces | Wellness, occupational safety, and preventive health programs | Employees |
| Government and community organizations | Public-health campaigns, community programs, referrals, and outreach | Communities and priority populations |
| Schools | Age-appropriate health knowledge and behavior skills | Children and adolescents |
In TUW’s Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences, students who select the Health Education concentration study health promotion and community health education strategies and learn to assess needs, organize programs, and implement health education interventions.
The importance of health education in schools
Health behaviors and experiences during adolescence can influence health into adulthood, which makes schools an important early setting for health education. CDC describes health education as part of the primary mission of schools because it gives students knowledge and skills that support healthy behaviors and learning.
CDC says quality school health education should be:
- Age appropriate
- Culturally relevant
- Medically accurate
- Taught by qualified and trained teachers
- Based on a strong health curriculum
These standards help schools translate health education into consistent, evidence-informed practice that supports student health, safety, and well-being. CDC’s What Works in Schools program has reported reductions in sexual risk behaviors, marijuana use, school absence caused by safety concerns, and experiences of forced sex among participating schools.
The National Health Education Standards describe the health knowledge and skills students should develop, and the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) helps schools assess, select, and improve curricula.
Requirements are not identical across the country. CDC’s School Health Profiles collects data every two years from states, large urban school districts, and territories on school health policies and practices, including health education requirements and content.
Is health education a good career?
Health education may appeal to individuals who want to work directly with communities while advancing public health goals. Current BLS projections are positive: employment of health education specialists is projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3% average for all occupations.
Health education specialists held approximately 70,400 jobs in 2025. Their median annual wage was $64,070 in May 2025, and BLS projects about 6,900 openings each year over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from workers transferring occupations or leaving the labor force.
Demand reflects several broader health needs, including chronic disease prevention, health communication, and helping communities access health information and services. Career opportunities still depend on education, experience, location, employer requirements, and professional credentials.
Educational requirements
A bachelor’s degree is the typical entry-level education for health education specialists, according to BLS. Relevant fields may include health education, health science, public health, and community health.
Some advanced, research, teaching, or leadership positions may require or prefer graduate education. Students interested in further study can explore our Master of Science in Health Sciences and Doctor of Health Science, while prospective undergraduate students can review our bachelor’s admission requirements.
CHES certification
The Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES®) credential is awarded by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC). Candidates must meet academic eligibility requirements and pass the CHES examination.
NCHEC requires a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree from an accredited institution plus qualifying academic preparation. Applicants may qualify through a degree explicitly in health education or through at least 25 semester credits of coursework addressing the Eight Areas of Responsibility and Competency for Health Education Specialists.
Certification is not universally required, although BLS notes that some employers may require or prefer professional certification.
Start your health education career today
TUW’s online Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences offers a Health Education concentration for students interested in promoting individual and community health. Students develop skills for assessing health needs and organizing and implementing health education programs.
While we don’t award CHES certification, the Health Education concentration provides academic preparation relevant to health education practice and the CHES exam. Students should review NCHEC’s current eligibility requirements to confirm that their completed coursework qualifies them to sit for the exam.
Our BSHS is 100% online, uses eight-week terms, and offers six start dates throughout the year. We are a nonprofit university institutionally accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).
Health education remains an important part of disease prevention, health literacy, and community health. For students interested in helping people understand and act on health information, the Health Education concentration provides a structured way to develop those skills.
Frequently asked questions
Is health education the same as public health?
No. Health education is one area within the broader field of public health. It focuses primarily on helping individuals and communities develop health knowledge and skills. Public health also includes epidemiology, policy, environmental health, disease surveillance, health systems, and other population-level functions.
What is the difference between a health educator and a community health worker?
Health education specialists generally develop, implement, and evaluate programs that teach people about health and well-being. Community health workers often work more directly with individuals and communities to promote healthy behaviors and connect people with health and social services.
At what age should health education begin?
Health education can begin with age-appropriate concepts in early childhood and continue as students develop. CDC’s HECAT includes curriculum resources spanning pre-K through grade 12, with health topics and skills adapted for different grade levels.
How do you measure whether a health education program works?
Programs can be evaluated by establishing measurable objectives and tracking results such as participation, changes in knowledge or skills, behavior changes, use of services, and relevant health outcomes. Health education specialists commonly collect and analyze data and evaluate programs and educational materials as part of their work.
Do health educators need a license?
There is no single national professional license required for all health education specialists. Requirements can vary by employer or role, and some employers require or prefer certification such as CHES.
Can you study health education online?
Yes. Our Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences with a Health Education concentration is offered 100% online in eight-week terms. Students study health promotion, community health education, and strategies for assessing and implementing health education programs.
