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Academic advocacy in public health: Disciplinary ‘duty’ or political ‘propaganda’?

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  • Smith, K.E.
  • Stewart, E.A.

Abstract

The role of ‘advocacy’ within public health attracts considerable debate but is rarely the subject of empirical research. This paper reviews the available literature and presents data from qualitative research (interviews and focus groups conducted in the UK in 2011–2013) involving 147 professionals (working in academia, the public sector, the third sector and policy settings) concerned with public health in the UK. It seeks to address the following questions: (i) What is public health advocacy and how does it relate to research?; (ii) What role (if any) do professionals concerned with public health feel researchers ought to play in advocacy?; and (iii) For those researchers who do engage in advocacy, what are the risks and challenges and to what extent can these be managed/mitigated? In answering these questions, we argue that two deeply contrasting conceptualisations of ‘advocacy’ exist within public health, the most dominant of which (‘representational’) centres on strategies for ‘selling’ public health goals to decision-makers and the wider public. This contrasts with an alternative (less widely employed) conceptualisation of advocacy as ‘facilitational’. This approach focuses on working with communities whose voices are often unheard/ignored in policy to enable their views to contribute to debates. We argue that these divergent ways of thinking about advocacy speak to a more fundamental challenge regarding the role of the public in research, policy and practice and the activities that connect these various strands of public health research.

Suggested Citation

  • Smith, K.E. & Stewart, E.A., 2017. "Academic advocacy in public health: Disciplinary ‘duty’ or political ‘propaganda’?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 35-43.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:189:y:2017:i:c:p:35-43
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.07.014
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bassett, M.T., 2003. "Public Health Advocacy," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(8), pages 1204-1204.
    2. Abelson, Julia & Forest, Pierre-Gerlier & Eyles, John & Smith, Patricia & Martin, Elisabeth & Gauvin, Francois-Pierre, 2003. "Deliberations about deliberative methods: issues in the design and evaluation of public participation processes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 239-251, July.
    3. Christoffel, K.K., 2000. "Public health advocacy: Process and product," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 90(5), pages 722-726.
    4. Asbridge, Mark, 2004. "Public place restrictions on smoking in Canada: assessing the role of the state, media, science and public health advocacy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 13-24, January.
    5. Béhague, D.P. & Storeng, K.T., 2008. "Collapsing the vertical-horizontal divide: An ethnographic study of evidence-based policymaking in maternal health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(4), pages 644-649.
    6. J. Veerman & Marleen Bekker & Johan Mackenbach, 2006. "Health Impact Assessment and advocacy: a challenging combination," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 51(3), pages 151-152, June.
    7. Carey, Gemma & Crammond, Brad, 2015. "Action on the social determinants of health: Views from inside the policy process," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 134-141.
    8. Haynes, Abby S. & Derrick, Gjemma E. & Chapman, Simon & Redman, Sally & Hall, Wayne D. & Gillespie, James & Sturk, Heidi, 2011. "From "our world" to the "real world": Exploring the views and behaviour of policy-influential Australian public health researchers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(7), pages 1047-1055, April.
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    2. Paul Cairney & Richard Kwiatkowski, 2017. "How to communicate effectively with policymakers: combine insights from psychology and policy studies," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(1), pages 1-8, December.

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