Title: Basic concept of advocacy in health
Course: Level 3 - Health Education and Promotion > Section: Advocacy

The word advocacy is difficult to understand. As a health extension worker, you will be able to use some of the skills of advocacy during your routine work with people in your locality. Advocacy is the pursuit of influencing outcomes, including public policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions - that directly affect people's health status. Health status of the community is directly or indirectly influenced by the policy decision of different sectors. As an advocacy coordinator, you will need support and technical assistance, and possibly extra personnel to carry out your advocacy activities.

Health advocacy encompasses direct service to the individual or family as well as activities that promote health and access to health care in communities and the larger public. Advocates support and promote the rights of the patient in the health care arena, help build capacity to improve community health and enhance health policy initiatives focused on available, safe and quality care. Health Advocates are suited best to address challenge of patient-centered care in our complex healthcare system

Health advocates work for positive change in the health care system, improved access to quality care, protection and enhancement of patient's rights. Competing for health needs of diverse and ever shrinking resources available to support these needs often serve as the impetus for the initiation of advocacy efforts to improve community health. Most simply, community health advocacy entails advocacy by a community around issues related to health.

Fig 13.1. In every community, there are issues that are larger than the individual that will require detailed advocacy work.

Health advocacy is integral to achieving better health outcomes for individuals and communities and to improving health services and systems. It empowers the community and their advocates to actively participate in decision-making around their healthcare and the broader health system.

Effective health advocacy ensures people's needs to be addressed, increases the confidence of peoples on the health system and increases accountability and responsibility.

Advocacy refers to communication strategies focusing on policy makers, community leaders and opinion leaders to gain commitment and support. It is an appeal for a higher-level commitment, involvement and participation in fulfilling a set program agenda.

Fig 13.2. Health advocacy diagram