University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Indiana University at IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Health Promot Pract. 2021 Mar;22(2):156-162. doi: 10.1177/1524839920968523. Epub 2020 Nov 2.
Public health professionals are at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic response. However, the roles and responsibilities of health educators in pandemic response are unknown. Researchers examined multiple factors that described how health educators' work priorities and lives have been affected by COVID-19. An electronic questionnaire was administered nationally to health educators to assess the effect of the pandemic on their professional responsibilities, the challenges they are facing, and their fears about the future. Of the 913 respondents, 487 (43%) reported changing work priorities, with 80% of that group (389) sharing that their work priorities shifted focus to COVID-19. Most felt qualified to take on the new job responsibilities, but many feared the inability to get back to previous work roles or for their organizations to financially withstand the pandemic. Regardless of workplace setting or job priorities, health educators are prepared in the skills outlined in the , which may have led to their abilities in shifting roles so quickly and effectively. Findings from this study may prepare public health agencies to better use and train health educators for their roles in rapidly shifting public health priorities.
公共卫生专业人员站在应对 COVID-19 大流行的最前线。然而，健康教育者在大流行应对中的作用和责任尚不清楚。研究人员研究了多个因素，这些因素描述了健康教育者的工作重点以及他们的生活如何受到 COVID-19 的影响。全国范围内向健康教育者发放了电子问卷，以评估大流行对他们专业职责的影响、他们面临的挑战以及他们对未来的担忧。在 913 名受访者中，487 名（43%）报告改变了工作重点，其中 80%（389 名）的人表示他们的工作重点转移到了 COVID-19 上。大多数人认为自己有能力承担新的工作职责，但许多人担心无法恢复到以前的工作角色，或者担心他们的组织无法在财务上承受大流行的影响。无论工作场所环境或工作重点如何，健康教育者都具备 中概述的技能，这可能使他们能够如此迅速有效地转变角色。本研究的结果可以使公共卫生机构更好地利用和培训健康教育者，以发挥他们在迅速转变的公共卫生重点方面的作用。
