Chapter 10 Advocacy
Chapter Overview
Key Issues and Learning Outcomes
Key issues within this chapter:- Advocacy to promote healthy public policies is a key health promotion activity.
- A wide range of organizations – including political parties, government departments, local services, voluntary bodies and pressure groups – influence policies on health issues.
- An important objective for advocacy activities is to get health issues on the agenda of policy makers, the media and the public.
- Effective advocacy involves defining strategic objectives, forming partnerships and carrying out activities such as lobbying, speaking at public events, working with the media and direct action.
- identify for a given health issue the different organizations that shape that issue.
- understand the processes by which health issues get on the agenda of policy makers, the media and the public.
- develop an advocacy strategy to influence a health issue.
- apply specific advocacy methods including working with the media, public speaking and lobbying.
Test your Knowledge
Having read the chapter can you now answer the following questions?
- What kind of policy changes could health promotion seek to influence?
- Dearing and Rogers (1996) identified three interrelated domains for health agenda setting. Discuss the relative importance of each.
- Health movements have diverse goals. Discuss the difference between the classifications of Brown et al (2004) and Baggott et al (2005).
- How would you identify the key decision makers, the gatekeepers and stakeholders to enable your health promotion project to succeed?
- Partnership working is important. What alliances and partnerships would you make for a locality-based project to reduce the prevalence of adult obesity in the population?
- Evaluate the various activities typically involved in lobbying.
- List five techniques you could employ to raise your profile with the local media.
Internet links
Advocacy Tools
The Health and Social Campaigners' Network International is a virtual organization designed to provide information to individuals who work as campaigners in health and social care.
http://www.patient-view.com/network.htm
American Public Health Association useful section about advocacy
http://www.apha.org
Institute for Sustainable Communities. http://www.iscvt.org/what_we_do/advocacy_and_leadership_center/
Media advocacy information and tools. Benton Foundation.
http://www.benton.org
FAIR Fairness and Accuracy in Media .
http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html
Media contact lists. Federal Communications Network
http://www.fcn.gov/
How-to guide for developing media communications materials. Net Action http://www.netaction.org/training/
Guide to Internet advocacy Tech Soup
http://www.techsoup.org/
Advocacy guide for sexual and reproductive health & rights. International Planned Parenthood Federation, London, 2001. http://www.developmentgateway.com.au/jahia/Jahia/pid/1393
Case studies of advocacy
National no-smoking day UK.
http://www.nosmokingday.org.uk/
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
www.ash.org.uk
Surfers against Sewage
http://www.sas.org.uk/
Articles
Allsop, J., Jones, K., Baggott, R. (2004). ‘Health consumer groups in the UK: a new social movement?’ Sociology of Health and Illnesses, 26, 737-756. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0141-9889.2004.00416.x
Brown, P., Zavestoski, S. (2004). ‘Social movements in health: an introduction.’ Sociology of Health and Illness, 26, 679-694 http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0141-9889.2004.00413.x
Brown, P., Zavestoski, S., McCormick, S., Mayer, B., Morello-Frosch, R., Gasior, A. R. (2004). ‘Embodied health movements: new approaches to social movements in health.’ Sociology of Health and Illness, 26, 50-80
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2004.00378.x
Chapman, S. (1996). ‘Civildisobedience and tobacco control: the case of BUGA UP. (Billboard Utilizing Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions.’ Tobacco Control, 5, 179-185.
http://tc.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/5/3/179
Jones, K., Baggott, R. and Allsop, J. (2004). ‘Influencing the national policy process: the role of health consumer groups.’ Health Expectations, 7, 18-28. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2004.00238.x/full/
