Planning and implementing a community-based public health advocacy campaign: a transport case study from Australia

Facilitating community action is a key goal of health promotion. This paper describes a public health advocacy framework. It then presents a case study of its application for planning community action by a community alliance concerned about increased heavy traffic on roads through a small regional city in the South West region of Western Australia. The case study illustrates defining the public health problem, the solution and the target for action; and the implementation of a comprehensive range of strategies including a media advocacy strategy to attract public attention, to reframe media messages, and to provide a policy alternative to government and industry. The campaign was evaluated in terms of process and outcomes, and was successful in putting pressure on key stakeholders and achieving the alliance's two main goals. The case study demonstrates the value of a well-planned campaign and including public health advocacy in public health practice, as an important strategy to facilitate the creation of healthy environments through healthy public policy.