Development of certified health education specialists (CHES) in the United States: focusing on the CHES responsibilities and competencies.

Health education is an important profession. The certification of health education specialists (CHES) has evolved in the United States (U.S.) over the past 50 years. This article briefly focuses on the CHES system in the U.S. and research studies related to this topic, including coverage of the CHES responsibilities and competencies by professional school programs in the U.S., as well as other CHES issues. The CHES credentialing system in the U.S. was successfully developed over a long period of time, and its history in the U.S. is unique. Japan has now started to develop a similar certification process and is concerned about academic programs for training Japanese health educators. Awareness of the CHES system and the U.S. health education certification process and framework may help Japanese health educators and academics to tailor their health education certification processes more effectively.