Washington, D.C. – November 1 , 2018 – The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) announces Advocacy in Action, a new online continuing education course for public health, health promotion and allied health professionals and students.
Advocacy in Action leads individuals through the basics of building broad public and policymaker support for health-enhancing policies and systems changes.
Presented in four didactic modules, the course addresses:
- Introduction to health policy and advocacy.
- Setting an advocacy agenda for policymakers.
- Introduction to coalition building.
- Developing and implementing an advocacy day at the state and local levels.
Each module, approximately 30-60 minutes long, includes a combination of presentations, case examples, videos and test questions to enhance learners’ mastery of the topic.
Course objectives align with the competencies required of certified health education specialists (CHES®) providing up to 7.5 continuing education credits.
SOPHE is proud to partner with the University of Maryland, which is hosting the course on its state-of-the-art learning management system for non-academic credit.
“Today’s public health professionals need essential advocacy-related knowledge and skills to be effective change agents in their organizations, schools, and communities,” said Elaine Auld, MPH, MCHES,® chief executive officer of SOPHE. “In addition to practitioners, this course can be used by faculty to introduce students to policy change and provide them the necessary tools for local advocacy efforts.”
Advocacy in Action compliments SOPHE’s Annual Health Education Advocacy Summit. Recently completing its 20th year, the summit is an award-winning program that combines in depth information on federal health policy issues and with legislative visits on Capitol Hill. By taking SOPHE’s online course, individuals will be prepared to master the advanced advocacy concepts presented at the summit.
For more than 70 years, SOPHE has provided its members with the most credible and up-to-date information and tools on public health, health education and health promotion — what’s needed, what’s new and what works.
# # #
