Master of Science in Health Promotion

The Master of Science in Health Promotion is designed for individuals who wish to lead, develop, implement, and manage integrative health and wellness programs targeting current health issues. They lead programs in community settings, workplaces, schools and organizations. Their focus in on factors that actively promote health in a more global or holistic sense, in stark contrast to medicine’s primary focus on treating disease.

This program features distinctive integrative health-based coursework focused on practices such as mindfulness, movement/physical activity, and integrative and functional nutrition. It prepares graduates to create programs and interventions that will support health behavior change and health maintenance. It includes a broad and inclusive understanding of integrative health practices, an evidence-based understanding of traditional, complementary, and conventional medicine, as well as self-care practices. The expert faculty that teach and mentor students are leaders and practitioners in the fields of community health education, workplace wellness and integrative health. Students will select one of the following areas of concentration: community health education or workplace wellness.

Community Health Education

Health educators work with groups, organizations, and communities to assess their health challenges and needs and then create and evaluate programs and interventions. These professionals often direct and manage projects and programs, consult with organizations and health departments, give public presentations, write articles and books on a variety of health topics, facilitate workshops and serve as faculty in higher education. Health educators may also specialize in working with specific populations, such as the youth or the elderly, or focus their work on specific chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, or obesity.

Workplace Wellness

A workplace wellness program is an employment-based activity or employer-sponsored benefit designed to promote health-related behaviors and disease management. These programs are becoming increasingly common, and frequently use health professionals to target and incentivize behavior shifts toward exercise, smoking cessation, stress reduction, and weight loss. Organizations are very interested in these shifts because they see the potential to increase employee production and morale and decrease healthcare costs. The workplace wellness area of concentration allows students to build core competencies around program needs assessment, development, and evaluation, and then focus specifically on the workplace setting for health promotion activities. These competencies and the foundational knowledge of integrative health practices provide MUIH graduates with a competitive advantage in a rapidly growing field.

Can’t decide whether health promotion or health and wellness coaching is the program for you? Review this comparative summary to learn more about these professions.

Students who complete the Master of Science in Health Promotion with the area of concentration in community health education or workplace wellness will be able to:

• Administer, manage, and provide leadership for community health and workplace wellness health promotion programs.
• Serve as an integrative health promotion resource person by applying a variety of modalities to community and workplace interventions, such as physical activity/movement, mindfulness, meditation, healing presence, herbalism and holistic nutrition.
• Educate communities and workplaces to initiate and maintain behavioral changes that support health and wellness.
• Design, implement and evaluate community health and workplace wellness health promotion programs based on population needs assessment.
• Create and execute health promotion communication plans targeted to specific populations in communities and workplaces.
• Advocate for health and health promotion and influence policy change.

Required Courses

The program consists of 23 core credits in health promotion and an additional 12 credits specific to the chosen area of concentration.

Core Credits

There are 23 credits of the following required courses for both the community health education and workplace wellness areas of concentration:

• IHED610 Fundamentals of Health Education and Health Behavior (3 cr)
• IHED615 Health Promotion Administration, Management and Resource Development (3 cr)
• IHED621 Communication Strategies in Health Education (3 cr)
• IHED623 Health Education Program Evaluation (2 cr)
• IHED625 Research Methods in Health Education: Quantitative and Qualitative (3 cr)
• IHED626 Health Education Needs Assessment and Program Planning (3 cr)
• IHED631 Topics in Diversity for Health and Healing (3 cr)
• ISCI630A Survey of Complementary Health Approaches (3 cr)
• MUIH550 Academic Research and Scholarship (0 cr)

Community Health Education Area of Concentration

There are 6 credits of required courses and 6 credits of elective courses in the community health education area of concentration.

Required courses:

• IHED639 Community Health Education Program Implementation (3 cr)
• IHED641 Health Promotion Capstone (3 cr)

A total of six credits chosen from the following (elective offerings vary by trimester):

• APP606 Becoming a Healing Presence (3 cr)
• APP700 Mindfulness, Meditation, and Health (3 cr)
• IHED777 Health Care Systems: From Macro to Micro (3 cr)
• ISCI671 Physical Activity and Health (3 cr)
• NUTR602 Nutrition: Food and Balance (3 cr)
• HRB600 Fundamentals of Herbal Medicine (3 cr)

Workplace Wellness Area of Concentration

There are 6 credits of required courses and 6 credits of elective courses in the workplace wellness area of concentration.

Required courses:

• IHED638 Workplace Wellness Program Implementation (3 cr)
• IHED641 Health Promotion Capstone (3 cr)

A total of six credits chosen from the following (elective offerings vary by trimester):

• APP606 Becoming a Healing Presence (3 cr)
• APP700 Mindfulness, Meditation, and Health (3 cr)
• IHED777 Health Care Systems: From Macro to Micro (3 cr)
• ISCI671 Physical Activity and Health (3 cr)
• NUTR602 Nutrition: Food and Balance (3 cr)
• HRB600 Fundamentals of Herbal Medicine (3 cr)

Course Descriptions

Course descriptions are available in the Academic Catalog.

88% of recent graduates of MUIH’s M.S. Health Promotion program were employed or self-employed within one year of graduation. Graduates of MUIH’s health promotion programs are employed in a variety of settings health care systems; hospitals; community, non-profit, and outreach organizations; local, state, and federal health departments and agencies; school systems; wellness

centers; human resources and workplace wellness units within businesses; workplace wellness consulting organizations; and colleges and universities. Many graduates chose to have a portfolio career in which they have multiple positions and employers within one or more profession, rather than one full-time job. A portfolio career provides such individuals with variety in their work life and the opportunity to develop a wide and varied professional network.

The increasing impact of the relative degrees of wellness and disease on public health, society, communities, organizations, and economies has led to a need for well-educated professionals in the field of health promotion. The health-improving and cost-saving impact that these professionals can have will be increasingly important in the changing world of public health, healthcare, and workplaces. The U.S. Department of Labor projects a much faster than average growth rate (11%) for health educators for the period 2018-2028.

View more about career opportunities.

Program Format

This program is offered in the online format. Click here to view MUIH’s definition of online, hybrid, and on-campus course and program formats.

Program Schedule

For trimester start and end dates, see the Academic Calendar.

Community Health Education Area of Concentration Schedule

Trimester 1

• IHED610 Fundamentals of Health Education and Health Behavior (3 cr)
• ISCI630A Survey of Complementary Health Approaches (3 cr)
• MUIH550 Academic Research and Scholarship (0 cr)

Trimester 2

• IHED621 Communication Strategies in Health Education (3 cr)
• IHED631 Topics in Diversity for Health and Healing (3 cr)

Trimester 3

• IHED625 Research Methods in Health Education: Quantitative and Qualitative (3 cr)
• IHED626 Health Education Needs Assessment and Program Planning (3 cr)

Trimester 4

• IHED623 Health Education Program Evaluation (2 cr)
• Elective courses (3 cr)

Trimester 5

• IHED639 Community Health Education Program Implementation (3 cr)
• Elective course (3 cr)

Trimester 6

• IHED615 Health Promotion Administration, Management and Resource Development (3 cr)
• IHED641 Health Promotion Capstone (3 cr)

Workplace Wellness Area of Concentration Schedule

Trimester 1

• IHED610 Fundamentals of Health Education and Health Behavior (3 cr)
• ISCI630A Survey of Complementary Health Approaches (3 cr)
• MUIH550 Academic Research and Scholarship (0 cr)

Trimester 2

• IHED621 Communication Strategies in Health Education (3 cr)
• IHED631 Topics in Diversity for Health and Healing (3 cr)

Trimester 3

• IHED625 Research Methods in Health Education: Quantitative and Qualitative (3 cr)
• IHED626 Health Education Needs Assessment and Program Planning (3 cr)

Trimester 4

• IHED623 Health Education Program Evaluation (2 cr)
• Elective courses (3 cr)

Trimester 5

• IHED638 Workplace Wellness Program Implementation (3 cr)
• Elective course (3 cr)

Trimester 6

• IHED615 Health Promotion Administration, Management and Resource Development (3 cr)
• IHED641 Health Promotion Capstone (3 cr)

Graduates of the Master of Science in Health Promotion will meet the eligibility requirements to take the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing’s Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam. Interested individuals are encouraged to check for the most recent requirements and for more information contact the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing at nchec.org/ches.

Claudia Joy Wingo, M.P.H.
Department Chair

Suzanne Zolnick, M.A.S.
Department Manager

Melissa Huselton,
Academic Advisor