Consumer health educators in health care institutions in West Virginia

A two-phase survey was conducted of administrators of health care institutions (hospitals, rural primary care clinics, and community mental health centers) and, in turn, people conducting consumer health education (patient and community) in these settings. The purposes of the surveys were to identify the people who were conducting health education activities, their training, the tasks they were performing, and how they practiced health education. A broad variety of professionals was identified who perform consumer health education in these health care institutions. Only two professionally trained health educators were identified out of 232 respondents. The type of health education practice varied by type of institution, with hospitals being patient education oriented, mental health centers being community education oriented, and rural clinics requiring both patient and community education activities from their health educators. Most respondents reported the distribution of printed materials and individual counseling as their most frequently employed health education techniques. A need was documented for training in health education techniques. A broad variety of approaches to meeting this need are discussed.