Description

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Advocacy has become a key part of public health degree programs across the country. Many programs have added policy and advocacy courses into curricula in response to new emphases in accreditation requirements, yet few public health textbooks comprehensively cover the advocacy skills that health professionals need to effect change.

Be the Change is an affordable introductory resource on public health advocacy, policy, and community organizing for both undergraduate and graduate students within the health and social sciences. Using a conversational and reader-friendly style, the authors draw on their experience as diverse advocates and practitioners in the field to synthesize the purpose, strategies, and tactics used in successful advocacy campaigns in public health. In each chapter, they highlight case studies of actual advocacy campaigns alongside concrete strategic recommendations for implementing change at the local, state, and federal levels. Full of useful stories and advice, Be the Change amplifies the important advocacy work happening around the United States, from traditional health organizations to grassroots community activists, and provides readers with the tools and inspiration to put advocacy into practice every day.

About the Author

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Keely Rees, PhD, MS, MCHES(R), FESG, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health and Community Health Education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and former President of National Eta Sigma Gamma. Dr. Rees was formerly an annual trustee for the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and has planned and participated in statewide advocacy experiences for students in Wisconsin and at the SOPHE Advocacy Summit for over eighteen years. Her research and teaching focuses on health policy and advocacy, grant seeking, and women's health and she has taught internationally with universities, researchers, and organizations to identify ways to better prepare public health educators in Ireland, Spain, and Costa Rica. Jody Early, PhD, MS, MCHES(R), is a Professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Washington Bothell. Her teaching, scholarship, and public health praxis focus on the intersections between education, health, and human rights and applying community-based participatory approaches to co-design and evaluate tailored health education programs. Dr. Early serves as co-founder and co-director of the program Mental Health Matters of Washington (La Salud Importa) and is a principal investigator and co-author of the award-winning workplace training and video, Basta! Prevent Sexual Harassment in Agriculture. In addition to her scholarship and public service, Dr. Early is also passionate about teaching and mentoring emerging public health advocates and strengthening their capacity to change oppressive systems and eliminate barriers that impede health for all. Cicily Hampton, PhD, MPA, is Professor of Practice in Applied Healthcare Research at the Virginia University of Lynchburg. There she teaches the next generation of public health researchers how to conduct research ethically in historically underserved populations. Dr. Hampton targets social determinants of health to eliminate health disparities using research. Dr. Hampton began her career advocating on behalf of patients enrolled in federal health programs as well as leading development and execution of advocacy strategies around delivery system and payment reform in what later became the Affordable Care Act. She has more than ten years of experience in health policy and advocacy on behalf of nonprofit organizations to advance progressive causes. Angela Glover Blackwell is Founder in Residence at PolicyLink and Professor of Practice at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.