Health advocacy: bringing clarity to educators through the voices of physician health advocates

Abstract

Background: Although advocacy is a value that is acknowledged among care providers, the definition of advocacy and the competencies associated with it vary among those who teach it.

Method: Grounded theory analysis was used on case studies of eight physicians identified as being responsive to community needs.

Results: Community-responsive physicians were found to engage in health advocacy by working with, or on behalf of, their patients/communities through being either (a) informants-providing information to those who can enact change, or (b) change agents-initiating, mobilizing, and organizing ways to systematically modify policies or procedures that negatively effect patients/communities. Issues of health advocacy as they relate to the determinants of health and health promotion are highlighted.

Conclusions: This article provides an enhanced understanding of health advocacy and proposes an operational definition of health advocacy that may allow for an enhanced method of teaching health advocacy to learners.