Volume 26, Issue 5: October, 1999

Abstract

HEALTH COMMUNICATION AND PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION: HEALTH EDUCATOR CREDIBILITY, MESSAGE LEARNING, AND BEHAVIOR CHANGE

Lisa A. Benz Scott, MS, CHES, David R. Black, PhD, MPH, CHES, FASHA, FSBM, FAAHB

Address reprint requests to: Lisa A. Benz Scott, The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, 7th Floor, Hampton House, Baltimore, MD 21205; phone: (202) 387-2829; fax: (202) 387-2857; e-mail: lscott@cfah.org

Health education graduate students were surveyed to assess perceptions of their professional responsibility to be role models of healthy behaviors, characteristics of a professional role model, and related socializing experiences during professional preparation. A total of 233 randomly selected health education graduate students participated in this study nationwide. Significant inverse associations were found between students' year in graduate school and sense of excellence as a role model, graduate program satisfaction, and professional commitment (all p < 0.05). Students' sense of professional marketability and competence to role model were statistically significant in predicting their perception that role modeling healthy behaviors is a professional responsibility, F(2, 215) = 110.25, p = 0.00001. Positive associations also were found between students' desire to improve fitness behavior, nutrition, and weight and/or body fat ratio with self-ratings as role models (all p's < 0.05). Implications for the profession and preparation are provided.