Health Promoter Kaiwhakatairanga Hauora

Useful Experience

Useful experience for health promoters includes:

• work in health
• teaching
• work with government agencies, charities or community groups
• involvement in community health promotion activities.

As many health promoters work in a specific area of health, such as helping people to stop smoking, or with a particular sector of the community, such as children, experience in these areas or with these groups is useful.

Personal Qualities

Health promoters need to be:

• excellent communicators
• good at planning
• outgoing and confident, with an interest in health improvement
• able to work with a wide range of people from different cultures and backgrounds
• able to motivate others.

Skills

Health promoters need to have:

• an understanding of different cultural approaches to health
• knowledge of the health system and political environment
• knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi and the Ottawa Charter of Health (used in New Zealand for planning public health)
• project management skills
• evaluation skills, for assessing how effective their programmes are
• facilitation and negotiation skills.

Conditions

Health promoters:

• usually work regular business hours, but have to work evenings and weekends to attend community meetings or events
• work from offices but also in the community at places like schools, rest homes and marae.