Public_Health_Advocacy-1.pdf

Public Health Advocacy
Community Engangement
Audience: 2020 PHN Class
Lecture: Mbewe Simon, Dip. In PHN
3/18/2022 C.E Public Health Advocacy by Mbewe Simon, Dip In PHN 1

Introduction
• In advocacy there is active support of an idea or cause especially the
act of pleading or arguing for something on behalf of the
people/community.
• In Health, it is the process of promoting patient's rights of self-
determination.
• It is also taking position position on an issue and initiating initiating
actions actions in a deliberate attempt to influence private and public
policy decisions,

Objectives
✓Define terms
✓Describe the principles of advocacy
✓Discuss models of advocacy
✓Explain the role of the role of a nurse in advocacy
✓Describe the stages of advocacy
✓Explain the elements of advocacy

Definition Of Terms
• Advocacy is a the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal:
the act or process of advocating something.
• An advocate is someone who speaks on behalf of those who, for
whatever reason, cannot speak for themselves.
• The term “Public Health Advocacy” refers to educating, organizing,
and mobilizing for systems change in the health of the population

Principles Of Advocacy
1. Clarity of purpose
• Advocacy providers should ensure that the people they advocate on behalf
of, health and social care services and funding agencies have information
on the scope and limitations of the advocacy provider’s role.
2. Independence
• The advocacy provider will be structurally independent from statutory
organizations.
• The advocacy provider will be as free from conflict of interest as possible,
both in design and operation of advocacy services, and seek actively to
reduce conflicting advocacy services, and seek actively to reduce
conflicting
• Interests, in particular where the organization provides additional services
such as housing provision.

Principles Of Advocacy cont’
3. Person Centered Approach
• The advocacy provider will ensure that the wishes and interests of the
people it advocates on behalf of direct its work.
• Advocates should be non-judgmental and respectful of people’s
needs, views, culture and experiences .

4. Empowerment
• The advocacy provider will support self-advocacy and empowerment
through its work.
• People who access the service should have a say in the level of
involvement and style of advocacy support what they want where
they are able and wish to.
• Where clients lack the ability or capacity to influence the service, the
advocacy provider should have a process in place to enable those
with an interest in the welfare of the person to influence this.

5. Confidentiality
• The advocacy provider will have a written policy on confidentiality
that is in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Mental
Capacity Act 2005.
• It should outline how information about a person accessing the
service may be shared as well as the circumstances under which
confidentiality might be breached.
• Advocates must also be aware of situations that would require
making a child or adult safeguarding alert

6. Complaints
• The advocacy provider will have a written policy describing how
individuals,
• Including relevant stakeholders, can make complaints or give
feedback about the Service or about individual advocates.
• Where necessary, the organization will enable people
• advocates.
• Where necessary, the organization will enable people who use its
services to access external independent support to make or pursue a
complaint.

7. Safeguarding
• Clear policies and procedures will be in piace to ensure safeguarding
issues are identified and acted upon.
• Advocates will be supported to understand the different

Models Of Advocacy
1. Self Advocacy
• Self-advocacy refers to an individual's ability to effectively
communicate his or her own interests, desires, needs and rights.
• It means that people are able to ask for what they want and need and
to tell others about their thoughts and feelings
• The goal of self-advocacy is for people to decide what they want and
to carry out plans to help them get it.
• Self-advocacy differs from other forms of advocacy in that the
individual self-assesses a situation or problem and then speaks for
his or her own needs.

Models Of Advocacy
2. Individual Advocacy
• In individual advocacy a person or group of people concentrate their efforts
on just one or two individuals.
• Individual Advocacy is having someone to stand beside you if you think
something is unfair or that someone is treating you badly and you would
like to do something to change it.
• There are two common forms of individual advocacy - informal and formal
advocacy.
• When people like parents, friends, family members or agencies speak out
and advocate for vulnerable people this is termed informal advocacy.
• Formal advocacy more frequently involves organizations that pay their staff
to advocate for someone or for a group of individuals

Models Of Advocacy
3. Group Advocacy
• Representatives of local groups are often included on planning
committees and involved in the commissioning and monitoring of
health and social care services.
• Citizen advocacy partnerships are long term, not time- limited, and
last for as long as the citizen advocate and the individual want them
to.
• Citizen advocates are ordinary members of the local community.

Models Of Advocacy
4 Citizen Advocacy.
• They are unpaid and usually operate with support from a coordinated
scheme.
• Citizen advocacy aims to involve people in their local community by
enabling them to have a voice and to make decisions about the
things that affect their lives

Models Of Advocacy
5. Professional Advocacy
• Paid independent advocates support and enable people to speak up
and represent their views, usually during times of major change or
crisis.
• Such advocacy is issue-based and the advocate may only need to
work with the person for a short time.

Models Of Advocacy
6. System Advocacy
• Systems advocacy is about changing policies, laws or rules that impact
how someone lives their life.
• These efforts can be targeted at a locai, state, or national agency.
• The focus can be changing laws, or simply written or unwritten policy.
• What is targeted depends on the type of problem and who has
authority over the problem

Role Of A Nurse In Advocacy
• The public health nurse plays the role of advocacy at different levels
that is at individual level, family and community level.
• The choice will depend on the magnitude of the issue, the nature of
the issue and resources needed to solve the issue.
• To the individual the community health nurse explains the needs of a
particular person to those who are providing a service that may harm
or cannot be attained by the person.
• The nurse endeavors to protect the rights of the individual through
advocacy.

Role Of A Nurse In Advocacy cont’
• To the family as a nurse you may come in to speak on behalf of the
members to resolve difficulties that have occurred.
• For example a big family is living in a house without windows, the nurse
will explain to the owner of the house on the importance of having
windows and ensures that they be put.
• Providing health education, care management, and primary care to
individuals and families who are members of vulnerable population and
high-risk groups.
• To the community, the public health nurse through the Ministry of
Health has a role of advocacy when it mediates for resource mobilization
for health projects in health institutions.

Role Of A Nurse In Advocacy cont’
• To identify current and future threats to the health of the community.
• Public health nurse work to inform, create, and influence
legislation and change the environment in order to create
circumstances in which optimal health is possible.
• Although individual health advocacy for patient and client can be
practiced, it should be stressed that public health advocacy, Iike the
core discipline of public health, is undertaken
• To enhance the health of communities through improved health
policies and programs.

Stages of Advocacy
1. Identify overall objective
• It is important to focus on a particular issue instead of many aspects,
to effectively use the efforts.
• Conducting educational forms and focus group discussions with key
stakeholders will enable to set overall objective.

Stages of Advocacy cont’
2. Achieve a group vision:
• The discussions and consultations with key stakeholders would help
achieve a group vision for advocacy with a purpose.
• It is important to visualize the expected outcome and the process,
which will bring out the possibilities for success and the possible
hurdles.
• Vision for advocacy will enable the youth worker and the team to
focus on a same target.

3. Analyze the current situation
• Current situation and the magnitude of the problem and need should
be studied with its caused and consequences and the expected
changes.
• Scientific methods can be adopted for effectively analyse the
situation.
• The analysis should consist of the reliability of people involved, cost,
legal limitations and support and time availability.

4. Choose a specific objective
• Based on the scientific methods such as drawing problem tree, focus
group discussion, empirical study, it would be strategic to draw a list
of issues from which the key issue can be prioritized.
• The terms of objectives can be finalized and formalized.

5. Identify key stakeholders to help for effective advocacy
• Identify the decision-makers, those who can influence their decision,
in each case.
• Who is responsible? Is it their duty?
• Is there a law to make them to do it?
• In the absence of duty, is there a good reason for them to do it?
• Do you have arguments to bring to the ‘negotiation table’ that could
be of interest to the person you wish to influence

6. Conduct well prepared meetings and discussions
• It is important to strategically plan meetings and discussions.
• This is the place where most important decisions will be taken and
hence, the facilitator needs to plan and rehearse each detail to
present to the team and convert them into fruitful results.

7. Plan the strategy
• Who will do what? With whom? When? Where? What do we need?
Such questions will lead to proper delegation of tasks to the right
person.

8. Develop messages:
• It is necessary to develop effective message.
• Questions such as which messages for which target groups?
• Assess these risks carefully and make sure that you and the stakeholders
are always safe and secure.

9. Identify effective methods
• Methods of advocacy can include everything from letter writing
campaigns; opinion pieces sent to the newspaper; tabling; on-line
bulletin boards, and chat rooms; speaking to groups of youth; call-ins
to radio shows; buttons, bumper stickers, etc. with the message
inscribed; flyers; rally, strike, etc.

10. Implementation of the action plan
• Effective delegation and tactful implementation will enable effective
advocacy.
• Each progress and process will give a learning, which needs to be
carefully observed and analyzed for further progress.
• Continuous encouragement and cooperation will play as a key for
effective advocacy.

11. Monitoring and Evaluation
• Monitoring and evaluation will bring experience and act as a change
agent in advocacy strategy.
• It is important to monitor and evaluate how did we carry out our
activities?
• What results did we get? What lessons did we learn?.

12. Rejuvenation
• The learning from the experience should enable the process more
effective and rejuvenation will ensure appropriate strategies with
right human power.

Elements/Process Of Advocacy
• Selecting an advocacy objective- Examine the complexity of the
problem. Determine whether the objective will address the problem.
• Determine whether the objective is achievable
• Using data and research in advocacy- Data and research is essential
when choosing a problem to work on, identifying solutions to the
problem, setting realistic goals and supporting your argument

Elements/Process Of Advocacy cont’
• Identifying advocacy audiences- Once issues and goals are selected;
• Advocacy efforts must be directed to people with decision making
powers who influence the decision makers e.g. staff, advisors,
influential leaders, media and the public.
• Know the names of the decision makers who can make your goal a
reality.
• Establish what influences these decision makers

• Developing and delivering advocacy- Different audiences respond to
different massages.
• Establish what massage will get the selected audience to act on your
behalf.
• Ensure that the massage developed is of great interest to the selected
audience.

• Building Coalition- Power of advocacy is found in the number of
people who support your advocacy goal especialy if large numbers of
people representing diverse interests are involved.
• Large numbers of people who support your goal help to provide
safety for advocacy and build political support.
• Within organisation, internal coalition building by e.g. involving
people from different departments in developing new programme
helps to building consensus on the action.
• It is important to find out who else can invite to join your cause and
who can be reliable

• Making persuasive presentations- Opportunities to influence key
audiences are often limited.
• Careful and thorough preparation of convincing arguments and
presentation style can turn these brief opportunities into successful
advocacy

• Fundraising for advocacy- Advocacy like most activity resources.
• Investing time and energy in raising funds or other resources to
support your work will sustain an effective advocacy effort over a long
time.
• Its important to plan how to mobilize the needed resources for your
advocacy.

Elements/Process Of Advocacy cont
• Evaluating advocacy efforts- Evaluating your advocacy
efforts will enable you to know if you have succeeded in
reaching your advocacy goals or not.
• An evaluation will reveal how you can improve your
advocacy strategies.
• Continuous feedback and evaluation of your efforts is
important for effective advocacy.

Thank You

Public_Health_Advocacy-1.pdf

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