Planning for the next generation of public health advocates: evaluation of an online advocacy mentoring program

Abstract

Issue addressed Despite being viewed as a core competency for public health professionals, public health advocacy lacks a prominent place in the public health literature and receives minimal coverage in university curricula. The Public Health Advocacy Institute of Western Australia (PHAIWA) sought to fill this gap by establishing an online e-mentoring program for public health professionals to gain knowledge through skill-based activities and engaging in a mentoring relationship with an experienced public health advocate. This study is a qualitative evaluation of the online e-mentoring program. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with program participants at the conclusion of the 12-month program to examine program benefits and determine the perceived contribution of individual program components to overall advocacy outcomes. Results Increased mentee knowledge, skills, level of confidence and experience, and expanded public health networks were reported. Outcomes were dependent on participants' level of commitment, time and location barriers, mentoring relationship quality, adaptability to the online format and the relevance of activities for application to participants' workplace context. Program facilitators had an important role through the provision of timely feedback and maintaining contact with participants. Conclusion An online program that combines public health advocacy content via skill-based activities with mentoring from an experienced public health advocate is a potential strategy to build advocacy capacity in the public health workforce. So what? Integrating advocacy as a core component of professional development programs will help counteract current issues surrounding hesitancy by public health professionals to proactively engage in advocacy, and ensure that high quality, innovative and effective advocacy leadership continues in the Australian public health workforce.

Prevalence and characteristics of advocacy curricula in Australian public health degrees

“…These findings mirror the limited previous Australian-based research indicating public health advocacy receives minimal coverage in university curricula and the need to include public health advocacy training within core units. 9 These gaps have also been reflected internationally, 11 where there is also an identified lack of understanding of the optimal training format and length for teaching advocacy to other health disciplines (nurses) 26 and medical students. 20,27 When a broad overview of advocacy training is considered (advocacy taught within core or elective units), it appears that advocacy is taught at a similar frequency in undergraduate (77%) and postgraduate degrees (79%).…”

“…The influence of public health advocacy has been demonstrated through several public health successes in Australia, including plain tobacco packaging, mandatory folate fortification within bread products and the ban on commercial tanning beds 9 . Such successes were not made overnight.…”

“…The competencies recognise the role of public health advocacy in underpinning knowledge of health promotion and disease prevention 12 and are consistent with the inclusion of advocacy in other international public health competency frameworks 13,14 . While public health undergraduates and postgraduates are expected to have knowledge and skills in public health advocacy, 12 there is a paucity of literature on how it is taught to these cohorts 9,11,15,16 . Contributing to this is a dearth of empirical research on the practice of advocacy 17,18 .…”

Twenty years of capacity building and partnership: A case study of a health promotion scholarship program

“…Building and maintaining the health promotion workforce are crucial to the discipline's longevity and the sustainability of effective health interventions with positive outcomes for communities . Despite a stated need for workforce capacity building, barriers exist to practitioners initiating and maintaining a career in health promotion . There are relatively few examples of transition to practice programs for new health promotion graduates or for those moving from other professions to health promotion.…”

“…Transition programs and graduate‐specific positions feature heavily across other areas of health in Australia and globally, acknowledging benefits to both new graduates and organisations, including reducing staff turnover and promoting leadership . Support programs that develop required competencies, usually in the form of rigorous orientation and/or mentoring, have been shown to improve confidence and leadership, increase retention and provide an avenue to support and strengthen the workforce . Moves towards national individual registration of health promotion practitioners or accreditation for university courses have occurred only recently, and historically, inconsistent application and use of core competencies for practice both with job roles and university courses have been reported .…”