Community Health Education Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Community Health Officers, Health Promotion Specialists and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PH-046

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with public health, health services, social care, community development or programme delivery.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Community health education programmes can miss their intended audience when priorities are set by service providers alone, messages are not understood, or local barriers are treated as individual failings. Practitioners need methods for listening to communities, involving people in decisions, addressing power differences and translating health evidence into practical action. This is particularly important for programmes addressing maternal health, immunisation, nutrition, non-communicable diseases, mental health, sexual health, sanitation and outbreak prevention.

This course teaches participatory approaches to community health education from initial inquiry through delivery, evaluation and improvement. Participants learn to conduct community appraisal, map assets and stakeholders, facilitate inclusive discussions, assess health literacy, co-design education activities and select behaviour-change methods. They use tools including Community-Based Participatory Research principles, the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation, COM-B and PRECEDE-PROCEED to connect community priorities with feasible programme objectives, messages, referral pathways and indicators.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with health-sector cases, small-group analysis, facilitation simulations, message-testing tasks and structured application planning. Cases can be adapted to local priorities such as vaccine confidence, diabetes prevention, adolescent health, maternal care or community-based protection services. Participants leave with a practical community health education project pack: a needs-assessment plan, stakeholder and power map, participatory session design, behaviour-change analysis, monitoring framework and individual implementation plan.

The course suits public health staff, health educators, community workers, programme officers and managers who already work with communities or supervise services that depend on community participation. It is appropriate for government health teams, NGOs, hospitals, primary care networks, humanitarian programmes and corporate social responsibility teams supporting health initiatives.

What you will be able to do

  • Conduct a rapid community appraisal using asset mapping, problem trees and triangulation
  • Map stakeholders, power relationships and participation routes using IAP2 principles
  • Design accessible health messages using health literacy and teach-back techniques
  • Facilitate participatory discussions using problem-posing, story circles and inclusive ground rules
  • Co-design a community health education intervention using SMART objectives and logic models
  • Apply COM-B and behaviour-change methods to identified health behaviours
  • Build an indicator matrix for monitoring participation, reach, learning and outcomes
  • Prepare an ethical implementation plan with safeguarding, feedback and referral arrangements

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce defensible community education plans grounded in local priorities
  • Facilitate group discussions without allowing influential voices to dominate
  • Write clearer health messages for people with varied literacy and language needs
  • Identify behavioural barriers before choosing education activities or campaign materials
  • Demonstrate practical competence in participatory public health programme design

For your organisation

  • Improves fit between health education activities and community-defined priorities
  • Reduces wasted spending on messages, channels and sessions people will not use
  • Strengthens inclusion of underserved groups in programme planning and delivery
  • Creates clearer evidence on reach, participation quality and education outcomes
  • Improves referral safety, safeguarding practice and accountability to communities

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain and apply the principles that distinguish participatory community health education from one-way health messaging.

  • Community health determinants mapped using the social determinants of health framework
  • Participation spectrum from consultation to shared decision-making using IAP2 principles
  • CBPR principles: co-learning, local relevance, shared ownership and action
  • Distinguishing health education, health promotion, mobilisation and community development
  • Rights-based practice, equity, inclusion and cultural humility in programme design
  • Professional roles, boundaries and accountability with community representatives
  • Power analysis identifies whose knowledge shapes priorities and resource decisions

Participants can plan a proportionate community inquiry that identifies needs, assets, barriers and priority groups.

  • Rapid community appraisal combines observation, transect walks and informal conversations
  • Asset mapping records associations, facilities, informal networks and local capabilities
  • Problem trees separate root causes, contributing factors and visible consequences
  • Seasonal calendars reveal service access, workloads, risks and attendance patterns
  • Focus-group discussion guides elicit lived experience without leading participants
  • Purposive sampling includes marginalised groups, gatekeepers and service users
  • Triangulation tests findings across interviews, records, observation and mapping

Participants can build inclusive participation arrangements based on stakeholder interests, influence and trust.

  • Stakeholder mapping plots influence, interest, legitimacy and relationships around an issue
  • Venn diagrams visualise institutional connections, gaps and potential collaboration
  • Power mapping examines formal authority, informal influence and exclusion mechanisms
  • Trust-building agreements clarify expectations, confidentiality, reciprocity and feedback routes
  • Recruitment plans address language, timing, access needs and participant safety
  • Community advisory groups establish representative membership, terms of reference and meeting protocols
  • Conflict-sensitive facilitation handles competing priorities without silencing minority voices

Participants can create and test health communication that people can understand, discuss and act upon.

  • Health literacy assessment tests readability, numeracy, language and actionability
  • Plain-language messages use everyday terms, active voice and one action
  • Teach-back confirms understanding through participant explanation rather than yes-or-no questions
  • Message matrices match audience segments, barriers, benefits, channels and messengers
  • Risk communication explains uncertainty, protective actions and referral thresholds
  • Translation review checks meaning, cultural fit and unintended stigma
  • Visual aids follow universal design principles for accessible communication

Participants can facilitate structured community learning sessions that encourage safe and meaningful participation.

  • Freirean problem-posing starts with lived situations rather than expert lectures
  • Participatory rural appraisal tools generate local evidence and discussion
  • Story circles surface beliefs, social norms and practical constraints
  • Role-play rehearses sensitive conversations, refusal skills and referral choices
  • Peer education models define selection criteria, supervision and quality assurance
  • Facilitation plans balance voice, psychological safety, time and decision-making
  • Ground rules prevent domination, disclosure pressure and discriminatory language

Participants can turn community priorities into feasible, measurable and inclusive health education interventions.

  • Co-design workshops convert priority problems into feasible education objectives
  • SMART objectives specify audience, behaviour, conditions, standards and timeframe
  • Behavioural diagnosis distinguishes capability, opportunity and motivation using COM-B
  • Logic models connect inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and assumptions
  • Intervention mapping selects methods matched to determinants and delivery settings
  • Resource plans allocate facilitators, materials, venues, referrals and contingency funds
  • Equity impact assessment identifies differential access, burden and unintended effects
  • PRECEDE-PROCEED links social assessment, diagnosis and intervention design

Participants can select education methods that address behavioural drivers while respecting autonomy and context.

  • Health Belief Model identifies perceived risk, benefits, barriers and cues
  • COM-B analysis diagnoses behavioural drivers before selecting education methods
  • Social norms messaging avoids reinforcing harmful behaviours through prevalence statements
  • Motivational interviewing micro-skills support autonomy, ambivalence and personally relevant change
  • Goal-setting plans define specific actions, triggers, supports and review dates
  • Referral pathways connect education sessions with clinical, protection and social services
  • Stigma reduction addresses labels, blame, confidentiality and contact-based learning

Participants can organise and improve community health education delivery while maintaining quality and participant safety.

  • Session plans sequence opening, exploration, practice, reflection and agreed action
  • Facilitator guides specify prompts, materials, timings and adaptation boundaries
  • Attendance systems record reach while protecting participant privacy
  • Supportive supervision observes facilitation, gives feedback and agrees improvements
  • Quality checklists assess fidelity, participation, inclusion and referral safety
  • Adaptive management uses participant feedback to revise content and delivery
  • Escalation protocols address safeguarding concerns, misinformation and urgent referrals

Participants can measure participation and education results, then use findings to improve programme decisions.

  • Indicator matrices define measures, data sources, frequency, responsibility and use
  • Process indicators track reach, participation quality, dose and facilitator performance
  • Outcome indicators measure knowledge, confidence, intentions and reported behaviours
  • Disaggregation by sex, age, disability and location exposes inequities
  • Pre-post questionnaires use matched items, neutral wording and simple scoring
  • Most significant change stories document unexpected outcomes and participant meaning
  • After-action reviews convert evidence into decisions, owners and deadlines

Participants can prepare an ethical, safe and locally accountable plan for applying course methods.

  • Do-no-harm screening identifies foreseeable risks, exclusion and unintended consequences
  • Informed consent procedures explain purpose, choice, data use and withdrawal
  • Safeguarding protocols define reporting routes, confidentiality limits and immediate action
  • Data minimisation limits collection to information required for stated purposes
  • Community feedback loops report findings, decisions and unresolved issues
  • Sustainability plans assign local ownership, refresher support and handover milestones
  • Individual application plans specify priority action, stakeholders, measures and first steps

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Rapid community appraisal template
  2. Stakeholder and power mapping canvas
  3. Health literacy message matrix
  4. Participatory session plan
  5. COM-B behaviour-change analysis
  6. Community health education implementation plan

Who should attend

  • Community Health Officers — need structured methods for involving residents in local health priorities
  • Health Promotion Specialists — need stronger participatory methods for designing education programmes
  • NGO Programme Officers — need practical tools for community inquiry, co-design and monitoring
  • Primary Care Managers — need reliable approaches for improving service uptake and patient education
  • Public Health Project Managers — need to connect community evidence with deliverable intervention plans
  • Clinical Outreach Coordinators — need inclusive communication and referral methods for community sessions

Skills and tools covered

Community needs assessmentParticipatory facilitationHealth literacy communicationBehaviour-change designStakeholder power mappingProgramme monitoring

Tools and standards

IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation, Community-Based Participatory Research principles, COM-B model, PRECEDE-PROCEED model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce public health frameworks, followed by sector-based case work and guided group analysis. Participants practise community appraisal, stakeholder mapping, message design and facilitation approaches using realistic scenarios. Simulations focus on handling unequal participation, misinformation, sensitive disclosure and referral decisions. Group work produces draft programme components that participants test against health literacy, equity, feasibility and safeguarding criteria. Each participant completes an application plan for a current or planned community health education initiative.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with public health, health services, social care, community development or programme delivery. Experience of communicating with patients, service users, residents, volunteers or local groups is helpful. Participants should be able to discuss a current or planned health education issue from their workplace. No prior training in epidemiology, research methods, behaviour-change science, facilitation or monitoring and evaluation is required. The course does not require clinical qualifications, statistical software or responsibility for commissioning health services.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand the basic purpose of public health, health services or community programmes. Experience working with service users, local groups or outreach activities is useful, but prior formal training in participatory methods is not required.

Bring a short description of a current or planned community health education issue, such as low screening attendance, vaccine concerns or poor treatment adherence. Participants may also bring existing leaflets, session plans or monitoring forms for review.

The course is designed for community health staff, health promotion teams, NGO programme staff, primary care managers and outreach coordinators. It also suits managers responsible for services that depend on community participation and trusted local relationships.

General health promotion courses often focus on policy, population strategies or campaign planning. This course concentrates on practical participatory methods: community inquiry, shared decision-making, group facilitation, co-design and local feedback.

Participants can use the templates to plan consultations, improve education sessions, test messages, identify excluded groups and strengthen referral arrangements. The final application plan identifies a priority action, stakeholders, measures and early implementation steps.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days progress from participation principles and community inquiry through intervention design, delivery, monitoring, safeguarding and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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