| Course | HLTH 6005 Introduction to Health and Wellness Education Profession |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 2 |
| Paper type | Role comparison |
| Length | About 1,080 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | MS in Health Education and Promotion |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HLTH 6005 Week 2
Health Education Specialist and Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach Compared on Four Fixed Criteria: Preparation Route, Credential, What an Employer Buys and Who Carries Clinical Responsibility
Student Name
Walden University
HLTH 6005: Introduction to Health and Wellness Education Profession
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Health Education Specialist and Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach Compared on Four Fixed Criteria: Preparation Route, Credential, What an Employer Buys and Who Carries Clinical Responsibility
Purpose and Criteria
This paper compares two occupations that often appear in the same worksite, clinic or community program: the health education specialist and the board-certified health and wellness coach. Both help people change health behavior, and job postings sometimes use their titles interchangeably. The comparison is made on four criteria, fixed before either role is described: the preparation route, the credential and the body that issues it, what an employer is buying when it hires each, and who carries responsibility when a person needs clinical care. Every factual claim about either role comes from the certifying body for that role or from federal occupational data. The paper ends by locating the handoff between the two roles rather than ranking them.
Criterion 1: Preparation Route
Preparation for health education is academic. Eligibility for the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) examination rests solely on academic preparation: a degree at the bachelor's level or above from an accredited school, plus either a major explicitly in health education or coursework of 25 semester credits or more addressing the profession's areas of responsibility (National Commission for Health Education Credentialing [NCHEC], n.d.-a). The coursework is spread across assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation and related areas, so the preparation is in designing and judging programs as much as in delivering them.
Preparation for health and wellness coaching is skills-based. Candidates for the National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) credential must complete a training program approved by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC), then log 50 coaching sessions after passing a skills assessment in that program (National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching [NBHWC], n.d.). The education requirement is an associate degree or higher in any field, or 60 college credits, or 4,000 hours of work experience in any field (NBHWC, n.d.). The preparation is focused on the coaching conversation itself.
Criterion 2: Credential
NCHEC issues the CHES credential. It is maintained by earning 75 continuing education contact hours over each five-year cycle, at least 45 of them preapproved by the commission, with 5 hours devoted to continuing competency (NCHEC, n.d.-b). NCHEC's higher credential, the Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES), requires either five continuous years as an active CHES or a graduate degree with health education coursework plus five years of documented work experience (NCHEC, n.d.-a).
The NBC-HWC credential is issued by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching, with the examination delivered through the National Board of Medical Examiners. The board lists an examination fee of $400 and an application fee of $100 (NBHWC, n.d.). Neither credential is a state license. Both are voluntary professional certifications that employers may require or prefer.
Criterion 3: What an Employer Buys
When a worksite or agency hires a health education specialist, what it is paying for is a program. The profession's own framework describes the specialist through responsibilities that begin before any participant is served, assessment of needs and capacity and planning, and continue after, evaluation and research, along with implementation, advocacy, communication, leadership and management, and ethics (NCHEC, n.d.-c). A worksite that hires a health educator expects someone who can decide what the wellness program should address, design it and report whether it worked.
An employer hiring a board-certified coach is buying individual sessions. The coach's preparation centers on partnering with a person to set and work toward the person's own goals, documented session by session in the coaching log. A worksite that hires a coach expects a set number of conversations with employees who choose to participate.
Labor market data place the health education specialist in a defined federal occupation. Federal wage data for May 2025 count 65,690 people working under that title, at a median of $64,070 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], 2025). The federal occupational system has no separate category for health and wellness coaches, so comparable figures are not available, which is itself a sign that the coaching occupation is newer and less formally defined.
Criterion 4: Who Carries Clinical Responsibility
Neither role diagnoses, prescribes or provides medical nutrition therapy, and both refer people to licensed clinicians when needs exceed their scope. The difference lies in how each meets the clinical boundary. The health educator usually meets it at the program level: a diabetes education curriculum is planned in coordination with clinicians and refers participants to them through set pathways. The coach meets it at the individual level, within a single conversation, when a client raises symptoms, medication questions or mental health concerns. The board publishes a scope of practice for coaches that frames coaching as distinct from clinical care (NBHWC, n.d.), and the health education code of ethics asks specialists to understand the boundaries of their practice and of their own preparation (NCHEC, n.d.-d).
Summary Table
Table 1
The Two Roles on the Four Criteria
| Criterion | Health education specialist | Board-certified health and wellness coach | |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation route | Degree with health education coursework | Approved training program and 50 logged sessions | |
| Credential and issuer | CHES or MCHES, NCHEC | NBC-HWC, NBHWC | |
| What an employer buys | An assessed, planned and evaluated program | Individual coaching sessions | |
| Clinical responsibility | Built into program design and referral pathways | Handled within each session through referral | |
Sources: NCHEC (n.d.-a, n.d.-b, n.d.-c); NBHWC (n.d.); BLS (2025).
A Note on Titles
Job postings complicate the comparison because titles do not track credentials. A posting for a "wellness coach" may ask for a health education degree, and a posting for a "health educator" may describe one-to-one coaching. Applicants and employers should read the duties and required credential rather than the title, using the criteria above to decide which role is actually being hired.
Where the Handoff Sits
The two roles meet at the point where a planned program needs individual follow-through. A health educator who designs a worksite program for employees with high blood pressure decides who is invited, what the group sessions cover and how the program will be judged. A coach can then work one to one with employees who want help acting on what the program offers. The handoff runs in both directions: the coach returns information on what participants find hard, and the educator uses it to revise the program. Neither role substitutes for the other, and an employer that hires one expecting the work of the other will be disappointed.
References
National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching. (n.d.). Get board certified. https://nbhwc.org/get-board-certified/
National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. (n.d.-a). CHES exam eligibility. https://www.nchec.org/ches-exam-eligibility
National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. (n.d.-b). CHES recertification. https://www.nchec.org/ches-recertification
National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. (n.d.-c). Responsibilities and competencies. https://www.nchec.org/responsibilities--competencies
National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. (n.d.-d). Code of ethics. https://www.nchec.org/code-of-ethics
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2025). Occupational employment and wage statistics: May 2025 national estimates [Data set]. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm
Reading the HLTH 6005 Week 2 instructions
In Week 2 students compare two neighboring occupations and are graded on evenness rather than loyalty. The prompt asks for criteria announced before either role is described, usually three or four, such as preparation, credential, what an employer is paying for and how clinical responsibility is handled. Each criterion should then be applied to both occupations in the same section, with a citation for every factual claim about either one. The certifying body for each role is the expected primary source, supplemented by current occupational data where it exists. Students should avoid paragraphs praising one occupation and should not declare a winner. Most prompts instead ask the final section to identify where the two roles hand work to each other. A summary table is welcome. Sources such as certification handbooks, eligibility pages and federal wage data are appropriate. Personal preference should stay out of the analysis.
How this HLTH 6005 Week 2 example is built
The paper opens by stating its purpose, naming the four criteria and promising to locate the handoff rather than rank the roles. Criterion 1 contrasts academic preparation, a health education degree or 25 qualifying credits, with skills-based preparation, an approved program plus 50 coaching sessions after a skills assessment and a degree in any field or equivalent experience. Criterion 2 names the issuing bodies, the CHES renewal rules, the MCHES routes and the coaching board's fees, and notes that neither credential is a license. Criterion 3 explains that employers buy a planned and evaluated program from one role and individual sessions from the other, adding federal wage data for health educators and noting that no federal category exists for coaches. Criterion 4 compares how each meets the clinical boundary. A table, a note on titles and a handoff section close the paper.
Where the marks sit in the HLTH 6005 Week 2 rubric
Rubrics for a role comparison typically reward clear criteria, balanced treatment, sourcing and a reasoned conclusion. Criteria earn credit when they are announced first and applied in parallel; a paper that changes its criteria midway loses this row. Balance is judged by whether each role receives equal depth and equally careful sourcing. Sourcing is often the heaviest criterion: every claim about eligibility, renewal or fees should point to the certifying body, and figures should carry dates where they may change. The conclusion is assessed on whether it locates a handoff or a working relationship rather than declaring one role better. Acknowledging gaps in the data, such as the absence of a federal occupation code for coaches, shows careful reading. Organization benefits from a summary table. APA mechanics include several undated web pages from one organization, distinguished with letter suffixes.
HLTH 6005 Week 2 help: mistakes that cost marks
The usual failure in this comparison is drifting into a defense of health education. Once the writer starts praising one role, balance is lost. Another common problem is sourcing one role carefully and describing the other from impressions. Students also confuse certification with licensure. Before submitting, list your criteria in the introduction and use them as headings. For each criterion, write about both roles in the same section. Cite the certifying body for every eligibility rule, fee or renewal requirement. Say plainly that a certification is voluntary unless a law requires it. End with where the roles meet and hand off work. If your section assigned a different pair, such as health educators and registered dietitians, a custom comparison can use the same four criteria with sources for those roles.
Get a HLTH 6005 Week 2 example written to your instructions
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More HLTH 6005 papers and MS in Health Education and Promotion samples
- HLTH 6005 Week 1: Health Education Role Post
- HLTH 6005 Week 3: CHES Credential Brief
- HLTH 6005 Week 4: Ethics Analysis Paper
- HLTH 6005 Week 5: Peer Reply Example
- HLTH 6005 Week 6: Practitioner Reflection Paper
- HLTH 6005 Week 7: Scope of Practice Analysis
- HLTH 6005 Week 8: Practice Settings Analysis
- HLTH 6005 Week 9: Certification Position Paper
- HLTH 6005 Week 10: Professional Development Plan
- HLTH 6005 Week 11: Professional Identity Synthesis
HLTH 6005 Week 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HLTH 6005 Week 2 sample paper?
This page holds a complete Week 2 comparison of health education specialists and board-certified health and wellness coaches on four criteria, with a summary table and six references.
How do you become a board-certified health and wellness coach?
Complete an NBHWC-approved training program, log 50 coaching sessions after passing a skills assessment and hold an associate degree in any field or qualifying credits or work experience before the exam.
Is the CHES credential a license?
No. CHES is a voluntary national certification issued by NCHEC; it is earned by examination and renewed with continuing education, but it does not grant legal authority to practice.
What does an employer buy when hiring each role in the HLTH 6005 Week 2 example?
A health education specialist is hired for an assessed, planned and evaluated program; a board-certified coach is hired for individual sessions with people who choose to participate.
Where do the two roles hand off work?
At the point where a planned program needs one-to-one follow-through: the educator designs and evaluates the program, and a coach helps individuals act on it and reports back what they find hard.