What Can You Do With a Community Health Degree?
Community health is a subfield of public health that focuses on educating individuals and communities about various health topics with the aim of increasing overall wellness and helping prevent the spread of illness, disease, and injury. Students with a background in community health understand the science and community factors involved in public health and can focus their efforts in areas like individual and community health, environmental or occupational health, or disease prevention and management. Read on to learn about some of the specific job titles those with a community health degree may hold.
Community Health Degree Jobs
Graduates with a community health degree can pursue careers in various areas of public health, including education, wellness/fitness, human services, research and policy, and healthcare. Whether the position is more research-focused, education-focused, or even administrative/business-focused, all of these careers strive to improve overall community health. For example, some students may work to become a healthcare administrator and oversee community health programs, while others work to become a health inspector to ensure public places are meeting standards to keep communities safe. Some specific community health major jobs that graduates with a community health degree may pursue include:
- Wellness coordinator
- Community health advisor
- Health educator
- Health coach
- Healthcare analyst
- Community health worker
- Community outreach specialist
- Program analyst
Community Health Degree Job Descriptions
Below are descriptions of the community health degree jobs that are listed above.
Wellness coordinators, as the job title implies, coordinate programs to promote wellness across an organization or a region. They may work for school systems, government branches, or other organizations. They organize activities that promote fitness and overall wellbeing of members in a community. For instance, wellness coordinators in a school system may coordinate field day activities.
Community health advisors usually work for local governments. They advise government officials on the best ways to promote health or respond to healthcare challenges in a community. To do this, they often need to interact with and get to know members of their community.
Health educators usually work for educational organizations like schools, colleges, and universities. They teach classes on health and wellness that help inform students on the ways in which they can live a healthy lifestyle and promote their own wellbeing. In addition to education in community health, these professionals will likely be required do have credentials allowing them to educate others.
Health coaches work one-on-one with individuals to determine the ways in which they can improve their health. This may include suggesting dietary modifications or altering physical activity routines. They may act as 'personal trainers' for individuals who are interested in increasing their levels of physical activity.
Healthcare analysts work for organizations that provide healthcare, like governments, hospitals, and insurance companies. They gather data and analyze it in order to determine how to best improve healthcare. The data gathered may include patient outcomes, costs, or the prevalence of diseases and other health conditions within a community. Their analysis can inform policy decisions to address community health concerns.
Community health workers play significant roles in community health and management. They often interact with individuals in their community to advocate for them. They may provide resources and opportunities for people to get access to healthcare that they need. They may also promote access to healthcare through reduced or no cost healthcare opportunities.
Community outreach specialists are similar to community health workers, but they focus on organizing programs that can promote the health of their community. They may organize screening for infectious diseases or chronic health risk factors, and they can offer resources to help people improve their health. In this way, community outreach specialists reach out to their community.
Program analysts generally work in information science or information technology. They help determine the best ways to structure, store, and access information in computer databases. In the context of community health, program analysts generally focus on storing and accessing data in electronic health records as well as creating databases to store information on general community health parameters.
What Is a Community Health Major?
There are two main types of community health majors. Both are usually a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, but one is a general community health major with a public health focus, while the other is a community health major focused on education.
Bachelor's in Community Health Curriculum
General bachelor of community health degree programs are usually offered through schools' public health departments and may be available in full- or -part-time formats. Some of these programs may offer different areas of concentration, such as public health, healthcare business, human services, or women's health. Some of these programs may also include hands-on learning through field experiences. Students in these programs may take courses in topics like:
- Epidemiology
- Community-based research
- Community health
- Grant writing
- Community engagement
- Social policy
Bachelor's in Community Health Education Curriculum
BS degree programs in community health education may be offered through education departments and may be available in online formats. These degree programs may also offer hands-on learning through internship experiences and may help students prepare for the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) credential. Course topics for these majors may include:
- Community health education
- Program planning
- Program evaluation
- Program administration
- Advocacy
- Health behavior
Community Health Major Salary
Earning a degree in community health results in a similar salary to that of graduates with a degree in public health. PayScale.com reported that graduates with a Bachelor of Science (BS/BSc) in Public Health made an average annual salary of $55,595 in 2020. The website also reported that graduates with a BS/BSc in Community Health made an average salary of $54,502 for 2020, and those with a BS/BSc in Community Health Education had an average salary of $52,878.
However, it is important to note that salary varies based on a number of different factors, including specific job title, employer, location, and work experience. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that health educators made an average annual salary of $60,500 in May 2019, while community health workers made an average salary of $44,390 the same year.
