Be the Change Putting Health Advocacy, Policy, and Community Organization into Practice in Public Health Education

Advocacy has become a key part of public health degree programs across the country. Many programs have added policy and advocacy courses into curricula in response to new emphases in accreditation requirements, yet few public health textbooks comprehensively cover the advocacy skills that health professionals need to effect change.

Be the Change is an affordable introductory resource on public health advocacy, policy, and community organizing for both undergraduate and graduate students within the health and social sciences. Using a conversational and reader-friendly style, the authors draw on their experience as diverse advocates and practitioners in the field to synthesize the purpose, strategies, and tactics used in successful advocacy campaigns in public health. In each chapter, they highlight case studies of actual advocacy campaigns alongside concrete strategic recommendations for implementing change at the local, state, and federal levels. Full of useful stories and advice, Be the Change amplifies the important advocacy work happening around the United States, from traditional health organizations to grassroots community activists, and provides readers with the tools and inspiration to put advocacy into practice every day.

Keely Rees, PhD, MS, MCHES®, FESG, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health and Community Health Education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and former President of National Eta Sigma Gamma. Dr. Rees was formerly an annual trustee for the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and has planned and participated in statewide advocacy experiences for students in Wisconsin and at the SOPHE Advocacy Summit for over eighteen years. Her research and teaching focuses on health policy and advocacy, grant seeking, and women's health and she has taught internationally with universities, researchers, and organizations to identify ways to better prepare public health educators in Ireland, Spain, and Costa Rica.

Jody Early, PhD, MS, MCHES®, is a Professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Washington Bothell. Her teaching, scholarship, and public
health praxis focus on the intersections between education, health, and human rights and applying community-based participatory approaches to co-design and evaluate tailored health education programs. Dr. Early serves as co-founder and co-director of the program Mental Health Matters of Washington (La Salud Importa) and is a principal investigator and co-author of the award-winning workplace training and video, Basta! Prevent Sexual Harassment in Agriculture. In addition to her scholarship and public service, Dr. Early is also passionate about teaching and mentoring emerging public health advocates and strengthening their capacity to change oppressive systems and eliminate barriers that impede health for all.

Cicily Hampton, PhD, MPA, is Professor of Practice in Applied Healthcare Research at the Virginia University of Lynchburg. There she teaches the next generation of public health researchers how to conduct research ethically in historically underserved populations. Dr. Hampton targets social determinants of health to eliminate health disparities using research. Dr. Hampton began her career advocating on behalf of patients enrolled in federal health programs as well as leading development and execution of advocacy strategies around delivery system and payment reform in what later became the Affordable Care Act. She has more than ten years of experience in health policy and advocacy on behalf of nonprofit organizations to advance progressive causes.

Angela Glover Blackwell is Founder in Residence at PolicyLink and Professor of Practice at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Foreword by Angela Glover Blackwell
Acknowledgments
About the Editors
Contributors
Introduction

CHAPTER 1 - Why Advocacy and Policy Matter
Jody Early and Keely Rees
Advocacy Spotlight: Ryan White

CHAPTER 2 - Advocacy Terminology: Talking the Talk
Heidi Hancher-Rauch and Jodi Brookins-Fisher

CHAPTER 3 - Everyday Opportunities for Advocacy
Keely Rees, Amy J. Thompson, and Emily Whitney
Advocacy Spotlight: Sara Finger

CHAPTER 4 - Advocacy: An Essential Skill for Health Education Specialists
Kathleen G. Allison, Dianne Kerr, and Amy Hedman-Robertson
Advocacy Spotlight: Tyler G. James

CHAPTER 5 - Ethics of Public Policy Frameworks: Systems and Environmental Change
Sara Finger and E. Lisako J. McKyer
Advocacy Spotlight: Willem Van Roosenbeek

CHAPTER 6 - The Policy Process
Cicily Hampton

CHAPTER 7 - Policy Arenas
Cicily Hampton

CHAPTER 8 - Advocating for Health Equity
Holly Mata, Kristen Hernández Ortega, and Aditi Srivistav Bussells
Advocacy Spotlight: Dr. Alister Martin and Vot-ER
Advocacy Spotlight: Evelyn Garcia Thomas and Daniela Marquez

CHAPTER 9 - Advocacy Strategies
Alexis Blavos and Holly T. Moses
Advocacy Spotlight: Mikka Nyarko

CHAPTER 10 - Partnerships and Coalition Building for Advocacy
Jean M. Breny, Breanna De Leon, and Elizabeth J. Schwartz
Advocacy Spotlight: Victoria Breckwich Vásquez

CHAPTER 11 - Community Organization
Jennifer Disla and Molly Fleming
Advocacy Spotlight: Jennifer Disla

CHAPTER 12 - Media Advocacy and Social Marketing
Christina Jones and Julie Colehour

CHAPTER 13 - Evaluation in Public Health: An Essential Skill
Anders Cedergren and Montrece McNeill Ransom

CHAPTER 14 - Advocacy for the Long Haul
Jody Early and Selina A. Mohammed

Index