Development and utilisation of professional standards in health education and promotion: US and UK experiences

This article defines standards, discusses the components of standards development, and provides an overview of the use of standards in the credentialing processes of health promotion and education specialists. Credentialing or registering agencies related to health promotion and education in the US and UK are identified and their role in credentialing processes is discussed. Examples outlining the development and application of professional standards in both the UK and US are presented. In order to advance the development of international competencies in health promotion, and move towards agreement between different country accrediting systems, there needs to be additional clarification and/or standardization of health promotion terminology at the global level, and further in-depth work to review the implementation of different systems on the ground to enhance our common understanding of the standards employed and competencies required in order to assist the development and utilization of standards for health promotion and education specialists in various countries/regions.