Public health advocacy: process and product

OBJECTIVES: In this article the author describes public health advocacy and proposes a conceptual framework for understanding how it works. METHODS: The proposed framework incorporates the image of an assembly line. The public health advocacy assembly line produces changes in societal resource allocation that are necessary for optimizing public health. The framework involves 3 main stages: information, strategy, and action. These stages are conceptually sequential but, in practice, simultaneous. The work at each stage is continually adjusted according to circumstances at the other stages. RESULTS: The framework has practical implications; for example, public health advocacy teams need members with complementary skills in distinct roles. Potential applications are illustrated via two public health advocacy efforts. CONCLUSIONS: The framework may be useful in assessing staffing and funding needs for public health advocacy endeavors, explaining common problems in these endeavors and suggesting solutions, and guiding decisions concerning effort allocation. Application of the framework to a variety of public health advocacy endeavors will clarify its strengths and weaknesses.