Using Trained Volunteer Instructors: An Example of Community Health Education Programming

Abstract

The use of volunteer educators is not broadly implemented in community health education efforts. Many health education specialists believe that only highly trained and well-educated professionals are "qualified" to teach health-related information at the community level. However, well-trained volunteers with appropriate guidance and support materials should be as effective as trained professionals in teaching health concepts to the lay public. This paper looks at a project that was designed to develop and evaluate a health and nutrition education program based on the use of trained and supervised volunteer instructors.Two groups of instructors were recruited and trained to teach in a Healthy Mothers/ Healthy Babies program. One group had documented training and expertise in health education subject matter. The second group had no formal educational background in the nutrition or health areas. Both instructor groups received identical program materials, training, support, and follow-up contacts. Participants in a community health center's childbirth education classes were randomly assigned to the two types of volunteer instructors. Study results indicated no differences in the knowledge, attitude, or behavioral change measures between these two groups of participants. No significant differences were found relative to type of volunteer instructor. These results support the use of well-trained, well-managed, volunteer educators as an integral part of community education programs.