Damian Maganja, Bronwyn Ashton, Rachelle Pretorius, Meron Lewis and Anastassia Demeshko
Everyone needs to eat, and what we eat is vital to our health and wellbeing.
But what we can, want, and do eat is heavily shaped by external influences.
Our preferences and habits, available choices, access to foods, and consumption decisions can be strongly determined by broader social, economic and political systems and settings.
Current food environments actively promote unhealthy and unsustainable dietary patterns. Vested interests exercise a lot of power to construct and maintain this situation, enabling great profits to flow to some, while great harms are done to many.
Change may be difficult, but it is possible. Our community of experienced, passionate and trusted public health nutrition professionals are also powerful.
It is our responsibility, and great privilege, to contribute to changing things for the better.
Advocacy is a critical part of achieving change. While we are all advocates at heart, we can actively build our skills, strategies and confidence to more effectively engage with the systems and institutions that shape our world, to better influence attitudes and policies.
We are fortunate to have successful public health advocates in our community teaching what they do and know to others. For example, the University of Canberra’s Public Health Advocacy short course, run yearly by Dr Michael Moore and Dr Aimee Brownbill, provides useful training and resources for both emerging and experienced public health professionals.
In 2023, the PHAA Food and Nutrition Special Interest Group (FANSIG) provided funds to three members to participate in this course. Their reflections are below.
Rachelle Pretorius
The course touched on the fundamentals of public health advocacy and broadened my view about the important interplay between the media, advocates and the public.
The fantastic presenters, including Associate Professor Christina Pollard and Dr Marta Lomazzi, offered a wealth of knowledge about research translation.
One highlight was the vital role of building relationships, collaborating with various public health authorities and effectively engaging with the media to get messages across.
Dr Melissa Sweet provided helpful tips for social media engagement to improve the success of public advocacy; highlighting the importance of establishing trust with the community and making your voice heard, to avoid being drowned out by other social media noise.
Practical toolkits were provided to assist in building and delivering an advocacy action plan to the rest of the class.
Michael Moore shared The Ten Steps for Public Health Advocacy – an incredibly valuable resource in creating our advocacy plans.
As advocates, we should be prepared, confident, and agile when opportunities for action present themselves.
I plan to incorporate the knowledge gained from the advocacy course into my future research translation strategies and keep the ten steps in mind when advocating for change in community health.
Meron Lewis
I once heard that research done without telling people about the results is just a hobby. Like many public health researchers, I entered the field wanting to undertake research that would create change.
As enjoyable as the research process is, advocacy is the critical step that can move it beyond a hobby and initiate the change process.
However, most of my scientific training was based on the clinical and research process aspects, and advocacy sounded scary and hard.
I was pleased to learn of the UC Advocacy course to address these fears and honoured to be sponsored by FANSIG to attend.
As Rachelle mentioned, the course leaders and presenters were amazing, and very generous in sharing their knowledge and insights.
Another enjoyable part of the course was sharing the journey with the other participants. Hearing viewpoints and stories from those working in different fields of public health greatly added to my learning.
The practical information prepared me to take on a much greater advocacy role and removed the mystery around the workings of governments, formal submissions and inquiries, and social media engagement.
I highly recommend the course for any public health researcher, or indeed anyone looking to create change and improve our world.
Anastassia Demeshko
Participating in the Public Health Advocacy short course was an insightful learning experience that taught me how to put theory into practice. It provided a structured yet flexible environment to explore our advocacy interests.
One of my highlights was the mini assignment on an advocacy topic we were passionate about.
I focused on advocating for healthier food environments in my local community.
Michael Moore and Aimee Brownbill guided us through the ten steps for public health advocacy, an invaluable framework that helped me develop a clear and actionable advocacy plan.
This involved strategies for engaging policymakers, leveraging media platforms, and mobilising community support. This hands-on project elevated my understanding of advocacy from theoretical to practical, empowering me to address issues that previously caused me frustration.
The feedback and guidance from course instructors and guest speakers was instrumental in refining my approach.
Their expertise and real-world examples brought the theoretical aspects of the course to life and made the learning experience highly relevant.
Moreover, presenting our advocacy plans to the class provided a platform to receive constructive feedback from peers.
This collaborative atmosphere, where my fellow peers shared diverse perspectives and experiences, enriched my understanding of public health advocacy.
We all walked away from the course equipped with the necessary skills to continue advocating for public health issues effectively – and perhaps collaboratively!
The experience reinforced my commitment to public health advocacy and inspired me to continue striving for positive policy change as a public health researcher and advocate.
I am extremely grateful to FANSIG for the opportunity to develop my advocacy skills.
There’s still time to sign up to University of Canberra’s Public Health Advocacy Short Course, and PHAA members are eligible for a $600 discount. Contact UC for more information.
We’ve created a guide for those looking to get started in advocacy – find it here.
Damian Maganja is a Research Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health and co-convenor of FANSIG. Dr Bronwyn Ashton has been a public health nutritionist for 30 years, working in academic, government and non-government sectors, and is co-convenor of FANSIG. Dr Rachelle Pretorius is a Registered Nutritionist (RNutr) and Post Doctoral researcher at the Telethon Kids Institute in WA. Dr Meron Lewis is a Research Fellow in the School of Public Health, University of Queensland. Anastassia Demeshko is a member of the PHAA Students and Young Professionals in Public Health group.
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