Advocacy for public health CIEH North West Students Annual Conference Tuesday 8 th November 2011

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1 Advocacy for public health CIEH North West Students Annual Conference Tuesday 8 th November 2011

2 Advocacy for public health David Kidney, Head of Policy, CIEH Tuesday 08 November 2011 at Heaton Park

3 a definition Advocacy can be defined as: the pursuit of influencing outcomes including public policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions that directly affect people s lives. The Advocacy Institute (

4 a diagram Public inc service users Making change Professionals Policy makers

5 a famous quotation Nancy Milio Policy is, after all, no more nor less than a collective choice on collective lifestyles that sets the terms for individual choices public policy has been, and is now more than ever, affecting profiles of health and illness who shall be healthy and how healthy. Nancy Milio, Professor of Health Policy, USA Promoting Health Through Public Policy, 1980, p130

6 the diagram again Public/service users Public Health Policy Engagement Empowerment Environment Professionals Policy influencers Policy makers Policy keepers

7 Advocacy for public health Public health people work in and with organisations, public and private, where advocacy is a key element of their role in improving health and promoting well-being, through: Championing the public health concerns of individuals and communities, providing leadership whilst encouraging and supporting involvement Campaigning on issues that affect public health positively or negatively, providing convincing arguments that are professionally based and withstand challenges and in ways that are convincing Challenging organisations and individuals who have responsibilities for public health which they are ignoring or failing to properly deliver

8 What would you like to change in order to protect or improve public health? - at least one thing from each person 5 minutes

9 1. What do we want? Objectives 6. What have we got? Resources First efforts 8. How do we begin? 7. What do we still need? Gaps Evaluation 9. Is it working? Development of an Advocacy Strategy Jim Shultz, Democracy Center, USA

10 Healthy Lives, Healthy People Our strategy for public health in England

11 Ladder of interventions

12 Professor Sir Michael Marmot author of Fair Society, Healthy Lives I am particularly pleased to see the clear recognition that health is determined by wider social influences, and that these have an effect throughout our lives right from the start. It clearly makes the abolition of child poverty, early years development and education, good working conditions, healthy and sustainable communities, and good conditions for older people a centre part of a strategy for reducing health inequalities. Nudges will, however, only encourage individuals to exercise responsibility for their actions if they are combined with wider social programmes, regulation and a focus on equity from the outset.

13 The key principles central to public health advocacy are: Human Rights Recognise health as a basic human right Equity Democracy Inclusion Equality of access, participation and outcomes in health services and the reduction of health inequalities Enable people, communities and organisations to participate in decisionmaking Work in partnership with people, communities and organisations to ensure inclusion

14 Baroness Mary Warnock - An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Ethics A guide to ethics might be thought to be a kind of handbook on how to behave properly, like a guide to etiquette, or the Highway Code. Useful though such a guide might be, it is not possible to write it. Ethics is a complicated matter. It is partly a matter of general principles, even rules, like those of manners; but largely a matter of judgment, of reasoning, of having the right feeling at the right time - and every time is different. Above all it is a matter of trying to be a particular sort of person.

15 a WHO statement Advocacy is an important tool and includes lobbying, political organisation and activism, overcoming bureaucratic inertia, identifying a champion for the cause, enabling community leaders and mediating to manage conflict. Ministerial Statement for the WHO Fifth Global Conference on Health Promotion, Mexico City, 2000.

16 John Maynard Keynes The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.

17 Thank you for listening Questions welcome! Contact details: David Kidney, Head of Policy, CIEH Tel