Closing the gap: building the capacity of non-government organizations as advocates for health equity

Abstract

Seeking achievement of health equity has underpinned national government and global health policies for decades. However, major difficulties and challenges faced in the practice of achieving 'Health for All' has led to a recognition of the need to broaden the focus of efforts to improve health equity. Civil society groups have been identified as key stakeholders in attempts to achieve health equity, and the importance of strengthening their capacity to influence relevant government policy and practice has been highlighted. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study which examined the role of organizations outside government in advocating for health equity, and the capacities and conditions that were related to their success. In-depth, unstructured interviews were conducted with 26 non-government organizations (NGOs) who were active in three important health policy debates in Australia. The grounded theory method was used to direct data collection and analysis, and member checking was employed to ensure soundness and build ownership of the findings. Effective advocacy was found to be a dynamic process characterized by flexibility and opportunism within a framework of longer term goals. Two key ways of working were identified--in partnership and in conflict with government, with shifts in emphasis in response to organizational strengths and a changing environment. A number of domains of capacity, which together are termed 'capacity for advocacy', were also identified. It is clear that NGOs can learn a great deal from each other, but there needs to be investment by governments, international agencies and NGOs themselves if advocacy for health equity is to be strengthened.

Priority setting and policy advocacy by nursing associations: A scoping review and implications using a socio-ecological whole systems lens

“…The other half (50.0%, n = 13) of the non-nursing research papers described action on SDOH, equity or public policy in general [22,23,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73]. Table 3 provides additional details for research papers by type of research, geographic location, and types of policy issues.…”

“…Policy advocacy was conceptualized as strategies taken to initiate, enact, and enforce structural and policy change(s) to benefit populations [24,61,63,71]. Policy advocacy approaches comprised a combination of independent and 'collective', 'intersectoral', or 'cross-sector' approaches to solving complex and multicasual public policy issues [23,24,55,78].…”

“…These included extensive stakeholder analysis and inclusion processes [24,55,71,78]; the use of multiple types of knowledge or evidence (e.g., scientific, lay, and critical) [23,55]; navigation through various stages of the policy change cycle [23,26,55,78]; deployment of efforts in various settings (e.g., forums, courts, arenas) [23,55,71]; and use of direct (e.g., providing testimony for bills or meeting with politicians) and indirect tactics (e.g., newspaper editorial submissions or public awareness campaigns) [23,24,26,55,63,71,78]. Common among the frameworks was the need for multiple approaches and multiple targets.…”

Putting Knowledge to Work

“…(formal process of approaching policymakers), promotion or dissemination, and mobilizing public pressure. In their case study of 26 Australian NGOs, Nathan et al (2002) tried to understand how NGOs take action to influence government policy and practice for health equity. They found that NGOs had taken on the role of advocating for health equity.…”

Dalyvavimas nevyriausybinių organizacijų sveikos gyvensenos ugdyme: asmens holistinės saviugdos dimensijos

“…NVO įvardijamos kaip vieni reikšmingiausių sveikatos ugdymo srities partnerių, kurių veikla turi pridėtinę vertę visuomenės sveikatai [43,47], nors mokslo aplinkoje aptinkama nuomonių, kad reikėtų skirti didesnį dėmesį joms tinkamų mokymo modelių ir gebėjimų sveikatos priežiūros srityje stiprinimui [38]. Minimos organizacijos vis dažniau pasitelkiamos įgyvendinant tarptautinio ir nacionalinio lygmens įvairių sveikatos priežiūros ir ugdymo sričių projektus bei programas [15,18,39,55], atliekant sveikatos srities mokslinius tyrimus bei viešinant jų rezultatus [7,13,23], propaguojant fizinę [41], psichinę sveikatą [17,52], sveiką gyvenseną [1], vykdant lėtinių neinfekcinių ligų prevenciją [36,41], tenkinant specifinių grupių (pvz., moterų, vyresnio amžiaus asmenų, profesinių grupių, vietos bendruomenių), pacientų ir jų šeimų sveikatos ir socialinius poreikius [41].…”