Description
This resource describes a model for applied physical activity advocacy. The resource outlines a three-step approach that includes framing physical activity advocacy by using the following common questions of interrogation:
- “Why” advocate for physical activity?
- “What” should be advocated?
- “How” should advocacy be implemented?
“Who” should advocate is also reviewed.
Steps for Using Method/Tool
The public health community understands advocacy as “social action primarily aimed at effecting changes in legislation, policy and environments that support health living.” The World Health Organization (WHO) defines advocacy as “a combination of individual and social actions designed to gain political commitment, policy support, social acceptance and systems support for a particular health goal or programme.”
The resource outlines the following three-step process based on the public health intervention of physical activity:
- Evidence (the “Why”): The physical activity advocacy process starts with the evidence, and includes searching for and synthesizing the evidence on physical activity.
The benefits of using evidence include:
- Justifying the decision-making process
- Providing a clear rationale to the advocacy claims
- Facilitating the weighing of options or set of actions
- Ensuring the data represents the prevalence and causes of disease
Evidence can also be a description of relationships, context, behaviour, environment, systems and structures, feasibility, acceptability, and economic and policy-based information.
- Advocacy agenda (the “What”): The next step in the physical activity advocacy process is taking the evidence and translating the evidence into a plan of key actions. Ultimately, the plan should allow for the increase in population levels of physical activity.
At this step, a consensus about the duration, frequency and type of physical activity (i.e., the public health intervention that one is interested in advocating for) and its benefits is required, along with a prioritized set of actions—the agenda.
Taken together with step 1, this information can be obtained from already existing guidelines or recommendations, and adopting or adapting the guideline, its recommendations and the evidence base.
The agenda should also address messaging (“getting the right message”), including scientifically accurate messaging, communicating the message using the most appropriate language and strategy, and considering how messaging may need to be modified based on differences across factors such as gender, culture and age.
The authors provide a ten-point agenda for physical activity as an example.
- Implement (the “How”): This step describes how to implement an advocacy strategy. The key point is that the implementation plan needs to be comprehensive and a mix of relevant approaches and stakeholders.
A comprehensive approach is suggested, including:
- Political advocacy
- Media advocacy
- Professional mobilization
- Community mobilization
- Organization support/change
Finally, the “Who” is considered in terms of the individuals that should play an advocacy role, including:
- Non-governmental organizations
- Academics
- Government employees/public servants
- Champions
- Professionals
- Public
These summaries are written by the NCCMT to condense and to provide an overview of the resources listed in the Registry of Methods and Tools and to give suggestions for their use in a public health context. For more information on individual methods and tools included in the review, please consult the authors/developers of the original resources.
We have provided the resources and links as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by McMaster University of any of the products, services or opinions of the external organizations, nor have the external organizations endorsed their resources and links as provided by McMaster University. McMaster University bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external sites.
