Workforce development: using role delineation research findings for policy-making and professional practice.

For the health education profession in the United States, role delineation research has been ongoing to identify valid professional competencies as the basis for workforce development. During 1998-2004, a multi-phase national research study, the National Health Educator Competencies Update Project (CUP), was designed to re-verify the role of the entry-level health educator, and further define and verify the role of advanced level health educators. The CUP findings are the evidence that has influenced the professional preparation, credentialing, and professional development of health educators. The lessons learned include the importance of employing role delineation research with a discipline-specific representative sample to appropriately affect workforce development and sustainability through an empirically-based model.