In the 1990s, involvement in public policy setting became a significant health education skill as chronic and communicable disease management issues were joined by environmental hazard issues. Health education efforts and programs became geared to the home and to pre-school settings. In the past decade, new skills have been integrated into the health educator’s repertoire: social marketing; computer technology; distance learning; grant writing; evaluation; translating research into practice; and diffusing best practices. Issues such crisis management and terrorism, particularly bioterrorism and emergency preparedness have driven most government funding programs.

In 1998 the Competency Update Project began and in 2006 the second edition of the Competency-Based Framework for Health Educators was released by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc.. The framework was reinvented to include 82 sub-competencies with three levels: Entry, Advanced I, and Advanced II. The certification examination was reinvented/revised accordingly in time for the October 2007 test (NCHEC, 2006).

Therefore, if “reinvention” is “in our blood”, is it not wise for us to learn more about and perhaps consider preparing for our own professional reinvention transfusions?

What Does It Mean to “Reinvent Yourself”?
“Reinvention is any type of change, from the material to the spiritual, in which you become a whole person or a different person, hopefully a better person, but certainly a changed person” (Davidson, 2001). Reinvention is about taking charge of who you are and where you’re going and what you’re doing, and it usually involves a willingness to take calculated risks, to start all over again, and to weather some setbacks.

Reinvention is a proactive, not a reactive activity. People who choose to reinvent themselves, for whatever reason, are, by and large, assertive people, with a sense of personal responsibility and accountability for their lives (Chandler, 2004). They reject the role of “victim of circumstance” and assume ownership, if not total control, of situations and set about seeing what they can do about them. They refuse to be part of the problem; they insist, instead, of being part of and often the driving force behind the solution (Chandler, 2004).

Personal reinvention can involve changes in one or more aspects of your life. Reinvention is about shifting, reframing, reformatting, restructuring your perspective, attitude, and actions to whatever degree is necessary in response to a particular trigger. It doesn’t have to imply or involve a wholesale upheaval in who you are and how you do things ― though for some of us at some time, it might actually come to that. It can mean adjusting your attitude toward life; your body and the shape it’s in or out of; your relationships or lack thereof with people, your community, your money, any higher power you might believe in; how and with whom you spend your discretionary time; and, the focus of this article, your work life.