National Health Education Week – October 17 – 21, 2016
Follow and join the conversation with #NHEW2016
National Health Education Week (NHEW) is celebrated during the third full week of October and is sponsored by the Society for Public Health Education (@SOPHEtweets). This celebration brings national attention to public health issues and promotes consumers’ understanding of the role of health education and health promotion in society. This year’s NHEW honors the work of health education specialists and acknowledges the partnerships that help us build community health. Health education specialists are recognized for promoting and improving population health and providing health education services for cost effective prevention, wellness, and disease management. This year’s NHEW works to raise awareness about the importance of our future Health Education Specialists in improving consumer health and wellness.
Society for Public Health Education
The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) was founded in 1950 to provide global leadership to the profession of health education and health promotion and to promote the health of all people. For more than 60 years, SOPHE has served as an independent professional association represented by a diverse membership of nearly 4,000 health education professionals and students throughout the United States and 25 international countries. The organization promotes healthy behaviors, healthy communities, and healthy environments through its membership, its network of local chapters, and its numerous partnerships with other organizations. SOPHE members work in elementary/secondary schools, universities, voluntary organizations, health care settings, worksites, and local/state/federal government agencies.
Partnerships to Build Community Health
This year the focus of NHEW is Partnerships to Build Community Health. Each day of the week has a special theme around which organizations can plan activities. The daily themes are as follows:
Monday, October 17: Community Health, Health Inequities, and Faith-based Partnerships
Tuesday, October 18: Work-site Health Partnerships
Wednesday, October 19: School Health Partnerships
Thursday, October 20: Government/Organizational Partnerships
Friday, October 21: Academic Partnerships
SOPHE provides materials and suggestions for how to celebrate each day. Social media post suggestions are included each day using #NHEW2016 and on Friday a new hashtag, #WhyIChosePublicHealth, is introduced as well.
Get Involved
SOPHE provides an extensive toolkit that gives step by step guidance to organizations interested in planning events and spreading the NHEW message. The toolkit also provides strategies for connecting with other organizations that have an interest in community health to help support your efforts. Finally, the materials provide ideas and sample posts/updates to be shared through various social media outlets, everything from twitter to periscope.
