Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

CHAPTER
27
THE ROLE OF HEALTH
EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS
IN ADVOCACY
M. E LAINE A ULD
E LEANOR D IXON - T ERRY
P rofessional societies and associations provide an important function by advancing
the knowledge of and providing support for a particular occupation or field of study.
Traditionally, many health professional organizations were organized to provide a
nexus around scientific research and practice issues of their particular disciplines. In
the latter part of this century, however, health professional societies have become
more visible and vocal public policy advocates. Unlike the labor movement, which
recognized the political advantage of “ power in numbers ” in the early 1800s, most
professional societies were not organized solely to influence legislation. The purpose
of this article is to review issues affecting an association ’ s type and scope of
advocacy efforts, describe the recent [1999] movement of the health education profession
toward policy advocacy, provide examples of recent health education advocacy
efforts, and suggest future advocacy challenges for the health education
profession.