Health Trainer

As a Health Trainer, you will work closely with people to help them make positive changes to their health and wellbeing. You will provide advice, encouragement, and practical support to help people achieve goals such as becoming more active, stopping smoking, managing their weight, or improving their mental wellbeing.

Health Trainer is also known as Trainer, Health Advisor.

Role Characteristics

Help people identify how their behaviours may be affecting their health
Support people to create a health plan to help make changes to improve their health
Help individuals to become more knowledgeable about things that can affect their health and wellbeing
Signpost to other agencies and professionals
Offer practical tools and techniques, advice, knowledge and encouragement to enable and motivate people to change behaviours
Develop and sustain wider community participation and responsibility for improved health outcomes

Skills

Collaboration
Goal-setting
Active listening
Advice giving
Planning
Communication

Day in the life

Watch the video about a career as a Health Trainer.

Routes into this role

Here are some example routes that can lead into this role.

Volunteering or work experience

GCSEs

BTEC, T-Level or A-Levels

Pre-employment Programmes

Apply directly

How to become

There are several ways to start a career as a Health Trainer, whether you're leaving education, looking for your first job or changing careers.

Here are some ideas, and you can explore current opportunities in the section below.

Study a course or qualification – useful qualifications include GCSEs in English and Maths, health and social care-related courses, public health qualifications, T Levels and BTECs. These can all help you to develop knowledge, skills and prepare for work.
Build workplace experience – this could be paid work, volunteering, or work experience online or in-person. Experience in customer service, community work like a sports or youth club, health and social care, or education settings can all be valuable in developing your communication, motivation skills, empathy, and ability to support behaviour change.
Complete a pre-employment programme – a short course which supports you to gain confidence, skills and experience, helping you prepare for work.
Apprenticeships – you can gain experience in the workplace whilst also studying a qualification, such as Level 3 Community Health and Wellbeing Worker.
Applying directly – employers will want you to have good English, maths and IT skills. This doesn’t always mean you need a qualification, but you may need to do an assessment or skills test. Demonstrating your experience of communicating effectively, supporting people, working in communities, or promoting healthy lifestyles will be important.
Moving from another role – there are many transferable skills in roles like customer service, community engagement, coaching, education, or support work that you could use to move into a Health Trainer role. You may also wish to focus on developing your knowledge of behaviour change, motivational interviewing and health improvement.

Where can this role lead

From your role as a Health Trainer, you could develop your career by specialising in areas such as smoking cessation, weight management, or mental wellbeing. With experience, you could progress into a Project Manager role coordinating health promotion programmes, managing community wellbeing projects, or supporting public health initiatives.

The skills you develop in behaviour change, communication, coaching and community engagement can also transfer into a range of related roles, including Community Development Worker, Social Prescriber, and Public Health Practitioner. Roles such as Activities Worker and Youth Worker could also work well as transitions, where you will focus less on health but continue to use your relationship building, empathy, and communication skills.

If you are interested in clinical or regulated professions, you could use your experience as a stepping stone towards careers such as Health Improvement Practitioner, Nursing Associate, Adult Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Counsellor or other health and care roles through further study and training.

Location

Hospitals
Community Settings
Schools, colleges and universities
Prisons
GP Practices

Working hours

Full Time
Part Time
Weekdays
Casual Hours
Overtime
Flexible Hours

Opportunities

Postgraduate Degree

PGCert Clinical Education

The PgCert Clinical Education Programme is an interprofessional programme designed to transform healthcare professionals into exceptional education practitioners.

Organisation: University of Leeds

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BTECs, T-levels or A-levels

Leeds City College Health and Social Care courses

Find BTEC, T-Level or A-Level courses in Health and Care at Leeds City College

Organisation: Leeds City College

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Undergraduate Degree

BSc Health and Community Care

Develop your clinical skills and enhance your career prospects. You’ll explore the different areas of the healthcare sector.

Organisation: Leeds Beckett University

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Access to university

Health and Wellbeing Foundation Degree

A two-year programmes to develop the skills required to support the prevention of poor health and help to tackle inequalities amongst local people and communities that are sustainable and inclusive.

Organisation: University Centre Leeds

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Volunteering

Volunteering in Health and Care

Find out more about volunteering opportunities in Health and Care

Organisation: Volunteering Opportunities

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Undergraduate Degree

BSc Nursing (Child)

On this course you will develop as a confident, critically thinking children’s nurse who can provide physical, emotional and psychological care and support to children, young people and their families.

Organisation: Leeds Trinity University

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Access to university

BSc Health and Social Care with Foundation Year

This four-year course includes an initial full-time Foundation Year and offers an alternative route into university and gaining a degree.

Organisation: Leeds Trinity University

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