CHES - Certified Health Education Specialist Health Education Program Planning Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A health education specialist is designing a program to increase physical activity among sedentary office workers. The following objective is drafted: 'By the end of the 6-month program, 50% of participants will report engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week.' Which component of the SMART objective criteria is best represented by '50% of participants'?
- Specific
- Measurable (Correct answer)
- Achievable
- Time-phased
Correct answer: Measurable
The 'Measurable' component of SMART objectives involves quantifying the target or desired outcome. Stating '50% of participants' provides a clear, quantifiable benchmark to determine the program's success.
Question 2: During the initial phase of program planning, a health education specialist convenes a group of community members, local business owners, and healthcare providers to gather input and build consensus. According to the CHES Areas of Responsibility, this action primarily falls under which competency?
- Developing plans and materials for implementation.
- Defining desired outcomes.
- Convening priority populations, partners, and stakeholders. (Correct answer)
- Determining health education and promotion interventions.
Correct answer: Convening priority populations, partners, and stakeholders.
Area of Responsibility II: Planning, specifically includes the competency 'Convene priority populations, partners, and stakeholders.' This step is crucial for ensuring the program is relevant, supported by the community, and collaborative from the outset.
Question 3: A health education specialist uses a planning model that begins with identifying the desired long-term outcomes (e.g., quality of life) and then works backward to identify the behavioral, environmental, and educational factors that influence those outcomes. Which of the following models best fits this description?
- MATCH (Multilevel Approach to Community Health)
- Intervention Mapping
- PRECEDE-PROCEED (Correct answer)
- SMART (Social Marketing Assessment and Response Tool)
Correct answer: PRECEDE-PROCEED
The PRECEDE-PROCEED model is known for its backward planning process. It starts with the final consequences (PROCEED: policy, regulatory, and organizational constructs in educational and environmental development) and works backward to the causes (PRECEDE: predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling constructs in educational/ecological diagnosis and evaluation). This approach ensures that interventions are directly linked to the desired health outcomes.
Question 4: Which of the following is considered an 'Input' in a logic model for a health education program?
- The number of workshops conducted.
- An increase in participants' knowledge about nutrition.
- Funding from a community grant and staff time. (Correct answer)
- A reduction in childhood obesity rates.
Correct answer: Funding from a community grant and staff time.
Inputs are the resources that are invested in a program. This includes financial resources (funding), human resources (staff time), materials, and equipment needed to implement the program activities.
Question 5: A health education specialist is planning a smoking cessation program for a specific community. To ensure the intervention is based on a solid understanding of the problem and its determinants, they follow a systematic, six-step process that includes creating a logic model of the problem, designing the intervention, and developing an implementation and evaluation plan. Which planning framework is being used?
- MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships)
- Intervention Mapping (Correct answer)
- Health Belief Model
- Transtheoretical Model
Correct answer: Intervention Mapping
Intervention Mapping is a comprehensive, six-step framework that guides program planners through a systematic process of developing theory- and evidence-based health promotion interventions. Its steps include needs assessment, creating matrices of change objectives, selecting theory-based methods, designing the program, planning for adoption and implementation, and creating an evaluation plan.
Question 6: When developing program objectives, a health education specialist writes the following: 'Participants in the diabetes self-management program will be able to list three healthy carbohydrate choices by the end of the first session.' What type of objective is this?
- Process Objective
- Outcome Objective
- Behavioral Objective
- Learner Objective (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Learner Objective
Learner objectives focus on the educational or learning tasks that must be achieved before a behavior change can occur. This objective specifies a change in knowledge (being able to list something), which is a prerequisite for the desired behavior of choosing healthy foods.
CHES - Certified Health Education Specialist Health Education Program Planning Questions and Answers
A health education specialist is designing a program to increase physical activity among sedentary office workers.
The following objective is drafted: 'By the end of the 6-month program, 50% of participants will report engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week.' Which component of the SMART objective criteria is best represented by '50% of participants'?