Public Health Advocacy Workshop will be at Cunz Hall on Saturday. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor
Whether it’s knocking on elected officials’ doors or hosting informational sessions on campus, public health advocacy can take many forms.
The College of Public Health will host a Public Health Advocacy Workshop Saturday at 9 a.m. in Cunz Hall to teach attendees the meaning of advocacy and how they can engage with the topics within public health they care about.
“The whole goal is to teach our students what is advocacy and what is not advocacy,” said Amy Ferketich, the associate dean of academic and student affairs in the College of Public Health. “Sometimes when people think about advocacy, they think about people chaining themselves to trees or buildings, and that’s not necessarily what we’re talking about with public health advocacy.”
Instead, Ferketich describes public health advocacy as a tool in promoting a healthier and better-informed society.
“In my mind, [public health advocacy] is just informing the public,” Ferketich said. “It’s informing policymakers and individuals who are in leadership positions about public health issues and why public health is important to keep people healthy. People can do that in many different ways, from writing letters to the editor, to going to town halls, to meeting with their local or even federal representatives.”
The workshop will serve as an introduction to public health advocacy and a guide for those interested in getting involved. Attendees will hear from panelists with expertise in topics such as racial health disparities and health care law.
It is especially important to promote the spread of accurate information now, with public health under the spotlight for various reasons including funding cuts, immunizations and water fluoridation, Ferketich said.
“People who aren’t public health professionals are really getting mixed messages, so it is really important for people in public health — students, public health professionals, and teachers — to really educate the public and policymakers in particular about the work that we do and why it’s important to improve community health and well-being,” Ferketich said.
A key component of public health is the ability to share findings with policymakers to enact change, said Micah Berman, a professor in the College of Public Health and one of the workshop’s faculty speakers.
“It’s an inherent part of public health to take the knowledge that we have and translate it into practice,” Berman said. “If we have this knowledge and it is not getting translated into action and people don’t have the evidence that can help them inform policy, then we are not connecting the dots and public health is not doing its job.”
To address this connection between research and advocacy, the workshop will highlight specific strategies that advocates can use to enact change.
It is easy to view advocacy as a daunting task, but there are many ways students can advocate within their own communities, Ferketich said.
“When you’re thinking about this for the first time, you may not really realize that you don’t have to travel to D.C. and meet with your senator to be an advocate. There are other things that you can do too,” Ferketich said.
The workshop aims to connect students with local advocacy organizations and empower them to seek advocacy opportunities that reflect their passions.
“We are giving people the information and tools so that they can be effective advocates for the things they care about,” Berman said.
Registration for the public health advocacy workshop closes Sept. 18. More information on this event and future events is available on the College of Public Health website.
