National Task Force on Accreditation in Health Education Sponsored by: Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) American Association for Health Education (AAHE)

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National Task Force on Accreditation inHealth
EducationSponsored bySociety for Public
Health Education (SOPHE)American Association for
Health Education (AAHE)
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Task Force Co-Chairs

• Collins O. Airhihenbuwa, PhD
• Pennsylvania State University
• John P. Allegrante, PhD
• Columbia University

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Task Force Members

• Co-Chairs
• Collins O. Airhihenbuwa, PhD
• John P. Allegrante, PhD
• Members
• Evelyn E. Ames, PhD, CHES
• Michael D. Barnes, PhD, CHES
• Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
• David A. Birch, PhD, CHES
• Rena Boss-Victoria, DrPH, MSN
• Ellen M. Capwell, PhD, CHES
• W. William Chen, PhD, CHES
• Joan Cioffi, PhD
• Patricia Evans, MPH
• Cezanne Garcia, MHP, CHES
• Audrey R. Gotsch, DrPH, CHES

• Mary Hawkins, MSPH, MEd, CHES
• William C. Livingood, PhD, CHES
• Kathleen R. Miner, PhD, MPH, CHES
• Henry Montes, MPH
• Sheila M. Patterson, PhD, CHES
• Kathleen Roe, DrPH
• Carolyn Teich, PhD
• Donna Videto, PhD, CHES
• Boyce Williams, PhD
• Ex Officio
• M. Elaine Auld, MPH, CHES
• Becky J. Smith, PhD, CHES

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Task Force Membership

• Broad representation of professional preparation
  institutions, both private and public
• Research University
• Comprehensive University
• Four-Year College
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities
• Community College
• Community and School Health Emphasis
• School of Education and School of Allied Health

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Organizational representative of the Task Force
with voting members

• Coalition of National Health Education
  Organizations (CNHEO)
• Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)
• National Commission for Health Education
  Credentialing (NCHEC)
• National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
  Education (NCATE)
• SOPHE/AAHE Baccalaureate Program Approval
  Committee (SABPAC)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Health Resources and Services Administration
  (HRSA)

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Genesis of the Task Force

• Twenty-First Century Report on the Future of
  Health Education
• Future Directions for Quality Assurance of
  Professional Preparation in Health Education A
  Report of a Joint Invitation Meeting Sponsored by
  SOPHE and AAHE, January 15-16, 2000

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Credentialing in the U.S.

• Individual level
• Certification (CHES)
• Licensure
• Registration
• Institutional level
• Program Approval (SABPAC)
• Accreditation (CEPH, NCATE/AAHE)

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Task Force Charge and Timeline

• To develop a detailed plan for a coordinated
  accreditation system for undergraduate and
  graduate programs in health education, which will
  be considered by both the AAHE and SOPHE Boards
  of Directors/Trustees.
• Task to be completed in 36 months, January 2001 -
  December 2003

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Goal 1

• Review existing information and gather additional
  data where gaps exist on current mechanisms of
  quality assurance in professional preparation of
  undergraduate and graduate health education
  programs.
• Future Directions Report
• Background Literature Review
• Participants from Future Directions Meeting

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Goal 2

• Develop a detailed framework for a comprehensive,
  coordinated quality assurance system that meets
  commonly accepted standards of accreditation, has
  profession-wide support and addresses the
  following issues
• Organizational structure, governance, and
  administration
• Relationship with existing credentialing systems
  (NCHEC, CEPH, SABPAC, and NCATE)
• Staff and resources needed to operate
• Support of university administrators
• Incentives for accreditation
• Compatibility with various health education
  degrees and practice settings
• DOE or similar type of national recognition

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Goal 3

• Design and implement mechanisms to gather
  profession-wide input into any proposed new
  systems, including, but not limited to
• Presentations at professional meetings
• Articles in professional journals and newsletters
• A special meeting of professional preparation
  programs in health education, similar to the one
  held by the Graduate Standards Committee in
  Dallas in 1996

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Goal 4

• Develop a business plan and time frame for
  implementation of the proposed accreditation
  system that addresses, at a minimum, the
  following issues
• Introduction/transition to the new system
• Communication/promotion to professional
  preparation programs, administrators, employers,
  and others
• Resources needed during transition

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Issues and Priorities

• Standards - competency, generic, size, etc.
• Levels and specialization - entry point
• Philosophy - competitive, collaborative, etc.
• Endpoints - impact on professionals
• Context - relation to and impact on existing
  systems

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Data Gaps

• Perceptions of the Profession
• Health Education Credentialing Groups
• Credentialing Groups Outside Profession of Health
  Education
• Professional Certification Groups
• Academic Professional Preparation Institutions

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Process for Task Force

• Timeline of Task Force Meetings
• January 2001
• April 2001
• October 2001
• February 2002
• April 2002
• September 2002
• February 2003
• April 2003
• September 2003
• Communication
• Semi-annual reports to SOPHE and AAHE Boards
• Periodic updates to stakeholder groups at
  meetings and other venues

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Progress to Date Meeting 1, January 2001

• Reviewed charge to Task Force
• Discussed the need for program accreditation and
  implications
• Working groups formed to identify issues,
  priorities, and data gaps

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Progress to Date Meeting 2, April 2001

• Refined data collection methods for surveys of
  professionals and professional preparation
  programs
• Discussed implications and consultations with
  accrediting groups within and outside health
  education
• Discussed issue of generic vs. practice-setting
  specialization, including undergraduate and
  graduate

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Progress to Date Meeting 3, October 2001

• Discussed initial findings from surveys
• Decided on additional analyses
• Discussed implications of Accreditation on CHES
• Discussed the unique nature of accreditation for
  school health compared to community/public health

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Progress to DateMeeting 4, February 2002

• Discussed the final results from the surveys
• Decided on some additional analyses
• Reached a CONSENSUS on a single accreditation
  system for both undergraduate and graduate
  programs in School Health, most likely with NCATE
  pending discussions with NCATE
• Reached a CONSENSUS on a single accreditation
  system for both undergraduate and graduate
  programs in community/public health, most likely
  with CEPH pending discussions with CEPH
• Established a committee to develop standards for
  undergraduate accreditation before meeting with
  CEPH

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Progress to Date Meeting 5 6 (April
September 2002)

• Revisited and refined Interim Consensus Statement
  on Principles and Recommendations

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Progress to Date Meeting 7, February 2003

• Received official notification from CEPH of
  interest to become the accrediting agency for
  graduate and undergraduate programs in public and
  community health education
• The Task Force had already accepted NCATE as the
  accrediting agency for graduate and undergraduate
  programs in school health education

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Progress to Date Meeting 8, April 2003

• Developed a listing of frequently-asked questions
  about accreditation
• Developed a plan for web-based dissemination for
  feedback on the preliminary report
• Scheduled the last meeting of the Task Force for
  September 2003

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Principles

1. Health education is a single profession, with
   common roles and responsibilities.
2. Professional preparation in health education
   provides the health education specialist with
   knowledge and skills that form a foundation of
   common and setting-specific competencies.
3. Accreditation is the primary quality assurance
   mechanism in higher education.
4. The health education profession is responsible
   for assuring quality in professional preparation
   and practice.

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Recommendation 1

• That accreditation be the quality assurance
  mechanism for health education professional
  preparation, and should replace existing approval
  processes in an orderly transition.

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Recommendation 2

• That there be a unified accreditation system,
  comprising two parallel, coordinated
  accreditation mechanisms for community and school
  health education, which are responsive to the
  needs of the health education profession. These
  mechanisms must assure that common and specific
  competencies in health education are addressed at
  the undergraduate and graduate levels.

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• A. That NCATE is the preferred accrediting entity
  to provide a single coordinated accreditation
  mechanism for school health education programs at
  the undergraduate and graduate levels.
• B. That CEPH is the preferred accrediting entity
  to provide a single coordinated accreditation
  mechanism for community/public health education
  at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

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Recommendation 3

• That a coordinated accreditation system should
  build upon the best practices of the existing
  mechanism.

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Recommendation 4

• That graduate professional preparation programs
  must assure that students perform all health
  education competencies, and that their
  performance reflect graduate-level proficiency.

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Recommendation 5

• That designations be created to distinguish the
  practice level of health educators at the
  undergraduate and graduate levels. We recommend
  that these designations be
• A. Health Education Specialist (HES) for the
  undergraduate level from an accredited program
• B. Master Health Education Specialist (MHES) for
  the graduate level from an accredited program

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Recommendation 6

• That NCHEC is the appropriate entity to oversee
  the process of individual certification at both
  the undergraduate and graduates levels. We
  further recommend that
• A. Persons who successfully complete the
  certification processes will be designated as
  CHES (undergraduate level) or MCHES (graduate
  level). Only students from accredited
  programs/schools will be eligible for MCHES.

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• B. Students from non-accredited undergraduate
  programs/schools will be permitted to sit for
  CHES for a reasonable length of time. After
  that, students from non-accredited undergraduate
  programs/schools will be ineligible to sit for
  CHES. This window is recommended to allow the
  new accreditation system to be fully functioning
  while offering a transition period for
  programs/schools to prepare and qualify for
  accreditation.
• C. Appropriate deeming of those holding CHES be
  considered, and that persons holding a masters
  degree with CHES be provided a window of time of
  up to 24 months to earn MCHES designation.

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Recommendation 7

• That the results of the work of the Task Force be
  articulated to the Association of Schools of
  Public Health, Association of Teachers of
  Preventive Medicine, Coalition of National Health
  Education Organizations, National Commission for
  Health Education Credentialing, American Public
  Health Association, and other relevant groups.

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Next Steps

• Elicit comments and suggestions on Interim
  Consensus Statement of Principles and
  Recommendations as well as Frequently Asked
  Questions posted on the Web.
• Meeting 9 (final meeting), September 12-14, 2003.
• Provide Suggestions and Comments to
• Collins Airhihenbuwa, aou_at_psu.edu
• John Allegrante, allegrante_at_tc.columbia.edu