Health advocacy

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Health Equity

Background:

• Health advocacy encompasses ensuring access to care, addressing health inequities, and influencing policy.
• Social determinants of health and health inequities are foundational concepts, significantly impacting health outcomes.
• Operationalizing health advocacy within medicine and medical education faces challenges regarding scope and assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel framework for health advocacy in medicine.
• To define advocacy types, map activities, and establish shared language.
• To provide a tool for assessing learners and evaluating educational programs.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of current health advocacy instruction and assessment.
• Development of a new conceptual framework for health advocacy.
• Analysis of existing curricular interventions and educational practices.

Main Results:

• Current approaches to health advocacy education are varied and lack standardized assessment.
• The proposed framework delineates advocacy types and activities.
• The framework aims to facilitate communication, collaboration, and evaluation in medical education.

Conclusions:

• A structured framework is needed to guide health advocacy instruction, assessment, and evaluation in medicine.
• Addressing social determinants of health and health inequities requires clear definitions and actionable strategies.
• Further research and implementation are necessary to integrate health advocacy effectively into medical training.