Competencies for Health Communication Specialists: Survey of Health Communication Educators and Practitioners

Developing the theoretical model of Chinese physical education teachers' health communication competence: based on grounded theory

Background

Physical education teachers' health communication competence is a key factor in health promotion. Although health communication is a multidisciplinary field, medical practitioners are the primary focus of health communication research, whereas physical education teachers are marginalized. Therefore, this study proposes a theoretical model of health communication competence for physical education teachers.

Methods

This qualitative research utilized interviews as the primary data collection method. Purposeful sampling was employed to select participants, including university teachers, primary and secondary school teachers, and health education professionals from diverse regions of China. A total of 31 participants were interviewed through two focus groups (N = 15) and individual semi-structured interviews (N = 16). Grounded theory was used to analyze and code the collected interview materials.

Results

The health communication competence of physical education teachers consisted of three main categories, 10 subcategories, 30 concepts, and 240 statement labels. The three main categories were as follows: (i) foundations of health communication knowledge and skills (this category encompassed three subcategories, namely sport and health knowledge reserve, health beliefs, and health behaviors); (ii) health communication perception competence (this category included two subcategories, namely health risk and crisis perception competence and communication audience perception competence); and (iii) practical competence of health communication (this category consisted of five subcategories, namely language expression competence, organizational and design competence, utilization of new media tools competence, communication content selection and processing competence, and professional skills).

Conclusion

The theoretical model of health communication competence in this study provides a foundation for the involvement of physical education teachers in health communication work. It can serve as a reference for the development of both pre-service health education courses and in-service training systems for physical education teachers. Future research can expand the sample size and geographic coverage to further validate the applicability of the findings. Additionally, investigating the factors influencing the formation of the identified competencies is recommended.

Developing public health competency statements and frameworks: a scoping review and thematic analysis of approaches

Competencies ensure public health students and professionals have the necessary knowledge, skills, values, and behaviours to do their jobs effectively. Public health is a dynamic and complex field requiring robust competency statements and frameworks that are regularly renewed. Many countries have public health competencies, but there has been no evidence synthesis on how these are developed. Our research aim was to synthesize the extent and nature of the literature on approaches and best practices for competencies statement and framework development in the context of public health, including identifying the relevant literature on approaches for developing competency statements and frameworks for public health students and professionals using a scoping review; and, synthesizing and describing approaches and best practices for developing public health competency statements and frameworks using a thematic analysis of the literature identified by the scoping review. We conducted a scoping review and thematic analysis of the academic and grey literature to synthesize and describe approaches and best practices for developing public health competency statements and frameworks. A systematic search of six databases uncovered 13 articles for inclusion. To scope the literature, articles were assessed for characteristics including study aim, design, methods, key results, gaps, and future research recommendations. Most included articles were peer-reviewed journal articles, used qualitative or mixed method design, and were focused on general, rather than specialist, public health practitioners. Thematic analysis resulted in the generation of six analytical themes that describe the multi-method approaches utilized in developing competency statements and frameworks including literature reviews, expert consultation, and consensus-building. There was variability in the transparency of competency framework development, with challenges balancing foundational and discipline-specific competencies. Governance, and intersectoral and interdisciplinary competency, are needed to address complex public health issues. Understanding approaches and best practices for competency statement and framework development will support future evidence-informed iterations of public health competencies.