Perceptions Of Advocacy Research Articles

Education Research: Establishing a Postgraduate Year-1 Director Enhances Well-Being for Adult Neurology Residents.

Adult neurology clinical trainees in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited residency programs spend their postgraduate year (PGY)-1 within the internal medicine department, potentially causing a perceived disconnect with their neurology program. Our Adult Neurology Clinical Competency Committee found this disconnect may decrease resident well-being. We hypothesized implementing a novel PGY-1 Director role focusing on unique aspects of this first year would improve resident well-being and connection to the neurology program. The PGY-1 Director was established as an associate program director in the adult neurology residency program with goals to improve wellness, advocacy, compliance with ACGME requirements, education, and communication. Anonymous surveys compared preintervention (before the PGY-1 Director role) with postintervention resident opinions on PGY-1 experience, assessing wellness, burnout, and perception of advocacy. A total of 15 (75%) preintervention residents and 23 (96%) postintervention residents completed the study surveys. 53.7% of preintervention residents agreed or strongly agreed to feeling burned out, while only 17.4% of postintervention residents agreed they felt burned out and none strongly agreed. Significant improvement occurred in feeling supported clinically and emotionally and feeling validated. Most postintervention residents felt the PGY-1 Director was valuable and directly led to positive change. The relationship between the neurology and internal medicine departments was improved. A dedicated PGY-1 Director position can improve trainee wellness outcomes and relationships between preliminary and matched departments. This mutually benefits both programs but requires substantial resources. We propose this as a best practice when feasible for ACGME programs with the following suggestions: (1) provide dedicated full-time equivalent time, (2) meet with preliminary program leadership regularly, (3) meet with PGY-1 trainees during orientation and at least quarterly, (4) serve as an advocate, and (5) facilitate mentorship in areas of interest.

What it Takes to Be an Advocate: Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Strengths and Challenges

ABSTRACT Policies in education increasingly face ideological conflicts, with political operatives influencing radical legislative directions. While it may be more important than ever for teachers to make their voices heard, how teachers perceive themselves as advocates is unclear. This study, employing self-determination theory, analyzes teachers’ perceptions of advocacy, strengths, and challenges through quantitative and qualitative survey responses. Existing literature identifies crucial skills, knowledge, and dispositions for effective advocacy. Yet, teachers encounter obstacles such as a lack of support, fear of reprisal, and limited knowledge about advocacy at broader levels. Overcoming these challenges is crucial for fostering teacher autonomy, relatedness, and competence. The study offers insights into dismantling these barriers to empower teachers as effective advocates.

Community health worker perspectives on advocacy: design-based research to develop a digital advocacy training course.

While community health workers (CHWs) are well-positioned as health advocates, they frequently lack support and feel undervalued. Advocacy training may prepare CHWs to support communities better. This study uses a design-based research approach to (1) explore how participation in curriculum-development workshops for a digital advocacy course influenced CHWs' (n = 25) perceptions of advocacy and (2) describe how CHW involvement shaped course development. Data were collected via five discussion groups and seven surveys over six months. Initially, the CHWs perceived themselves as community-advocates but not as self-advocates. They increasingly reflected on the merits of advocating for better working conditions and aspired to greater involvement in decision-making. CHWs reflected positively on their advisory role in shaping the course to improve content acceptability and validity. Training efforts to engage CHWs in advocacy must overcome systemic barriers and norms internalized by CHWs that deter them from reaching their full potential as advocates.

Perceptions of Advocacy in High School Students: A Pilot Study.

Assessing perceptions and attitudes of advocacy in adolescent populations is an important area of research. Previous studies have shown that advocacy programs in high schools are well-received and help promote health advocacy. This pilot study took place at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine Health Leaders Summer Academy hosted by medical students of the Student National Medical Association. A one-hour interactive workshop was administered to high school students interested in the healthcare field. Pre- and post-survey data were collected to assess participants' perceptions, methods, and barriers to engaging in advocacy. A total of 29 students were included in this study. Results indicated that students' definitions of advocacy changed after completing the workshop, as a higher percentage of students indicated that they practiced advocacy (pre-survey, 82.76% versus post-survey, 95.45%). There was a statistically significant difference in perceptions of the importance of advocacy in the student's future career (pre-survey, 3.82 versus post-survey, 4.15,p = .035). Social media was the most effective and common form of advocacy used (post-survey 72.73%). The most common barrier to practicing advocacy was a lack of education on a particular topic (31.82% post-survey). Overall, the workshop increased participants' interest in engaging in advocacy. Future directions include expanding the study to a larger population sample throughout the Orlando community and researching the use of social media as a tool for advocacy.

Patient Advocacy Assessment in the Medicine Clerkship: A Qualitative Study of Definition, Context, and Impact

BackgroundAdvocacy is a core value of the medical profession. However, patient advocacy (advocacy) is not uniformly assessed and there are no studies of the behaviors clinical supervisors consider when assessing advocacy.ObjectiveTo explore how medical students and supervisors characterize advocacy during an internal medicine clerkship, how assessment of advocacy impacted students and supervisors, and elements that support effective implementation of advocacy assessment.DesignA constructivist qualitative paradigm was used to understand advocacy assessment from the perspectives of students and supervisors.ParticipantsMedical students who completed the internal medicine clerkship at UCSF during the 2018 and 2019 academic years and supervisors who evaluated students during this period.ApproachSupervisor comments from an advocacy assessment item in the medicine clerkship and transcripts of focus groups were used to explore which behaviors students and supervisors deem to be advocacy. Separate focus groups with both students and supervisors examined the impact that advocacy assessment had on students’ and supervisors’ perceptions of advocacy and what additional context was necessary to effectively implement advocacy assessment.Key ResultsStudents and supervisors define advocacy as identifying and addressing social determinants of health, recognizing and addressing patient wishes and concerns, navigating the health care system, conducting appropriate evaluation and treatment, and creating exceptional therapeutic alliances. Effective implementation of advocacy assessment requires the creation of non-hierarchical team environments, supervisor role modeling, and pairing assessment with teaching of advocacy skills. Inclusion of advocacy assessment reflects and dictates institutional priorities, shapes professional identity formation, and enhances advocacy skill development for students and their supervisors.ConclusionsStudents and supervisors consider advocacy to be a variety of behaviors beyond identifying and addressing social determinants of health. Effectively implementing advocacy assessment shapes students’ professional identity formation, underscoring the critical importance of formally focusing on this competency in the health professions education.

Advocacy journalism in the 21st century: Rethinking entertainment in digital Black press outlets

The Black press is often conceptualized as an advocacy press, but in the current digital environment, in which there are numerous entertainment-focused outlets, what exactly constitutes advocacy is fraught. Perceptions of advocacy, which have previously been associated with hard news content, are broadening to accommodate the entertainment content on Black news websites. Informed by interviews with journalists and focus groups with readers, this research finds that there are two different categorizations of advocacy journalism – hard advocacy and soft advocacy. Some editors and consumers believe the Black press should contain hard advocacy content, such as political activism coverage, while others perceive entertainment in the Black press, which provides positive coverage of African Americans and additional representation of Black life, as soft advocacy. Expanding advocacy conceptions provides further nuance and insight into how the Black press functions in the new media age.

Early childhood preservice teachers’ perceptions of advocacy and advocacy trainin

Early childhood preservice teachers’ perceptions of advocacy and advocacy trainin

Practitioner Perceptions of School Library Advocacy

School library advocacy is increasingly important due to decreases in funding and staff. National organizations attempt to engage school librarians in advocacy and have developed resources and tools to assist with this task. However, there is little research examining how practicing school librarians engage in advocacy and how their advocacy efforts impact their library programs. This study explored school librarians’ perceptions of advocacy within the context of their school library setting. Findings suggest school librarians must continue to build relationships with stakeholders and create awareness for the school library position as they define the activities of advocacy unique to their library setting. An emphasis should also be placed on creating meaningful advocacy training in school library preparation courses.

In Cyprus, ‘midwifery is dying…’. A qualitative exploration of midwives' perceptions of their role as advocates for normal childbirth

Backgroundadvocacy has been identified as vital for improving maternal and newborn health. In many countries, midwives struggle to advocate for women; in Cyprus, there has been no research into perceptions of advocacy amongst midwives. Aimthis study provides an exploration of the perceptions of midwives as client advocates for normal childbirth in Cyprus. Designa qualitative approach was adopted, using participant observation and semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of twenty experienced midwives. A thematic approach was taken for the analysis. Findingsfive main interconnected themes emerged, two of which, ‘Lack of professional recognition’ and ‘Deficiencies in basic or continuing education’ presented barriers to midwives' adoption of an advocacy role. Three themes reflected structural factors that also discouraged midwives from acting as advocates: these were ‘physician dominance’, ‘medicalisation of childbirth’ and ‘lack of institutional support’. Conclusionadvocacy is a demanding and challenging role and midwives should be empowered to feel confident in undertaking this role through continuing professional education programmes and professional recognition. In order to be effective advocates, midwives needed to be recognised and valued by the public and by other health professionals as equal partners within the multidisciplinary team. However, midwives in Cyprus find themselves in difficult situations when advocating normal childbirth due to medical domination of the health services, medicalisation of childbirth and inadequate institutional support. Implications for practicein this setting, midwives need to gain professional recognition, to have more effective basic and continuing education programmes and receive better support from managers and policy makers in order to become advocates for normal childbirth.

Holding the patient's life in my hands: Swedish registered nurse anaesthetists' perspective of advocacy

Anaesthesia often induces a state of unconsciousness that includes inability to communicate and influence the situation. The patient has to rely on the nurse anaesthetist to speak up for her/him as well as maintain her/his dignity and safety. Consequently, the nurse anaesthetist can be likened to the patient's advocate. The aim of the study was to describe advocacy in anaesthesia care during the perioperative phase from the perspective of the registered nurse anaesthetist. Data for this qualitative descriptive study were collected during March and April, 2011. Individual interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 20 nurse anaesthetists from two hospitals in Sweden. The audio-taped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. The main theme, Holding the patient's life in my hands, described the nurse anaesthetists' perception of advocacy and comprised three subthemes: providing dignified care, providing safe care and a moral commitment. Acting as the patient's advocate includes important health and well-being issues and could be stressful for the nurse anaesthetists'. A work environment where the nurse anaesthetists' can make their voices heard and feel that their opinion regarding the patient's best interests is taken seriously would be desirable, as all health professionals should ideally focus on those in their care.

The Advocacy of Educators: Perspectives from Early Childhood

THIS ARTICLE INVESTIGATES EARLY childhood educators' perceptions of advocacy in raising the professional status with multiple stakeholders in diverse contexts. The article reports on findings from a phenomenological study investigating the perceptions of 12 educators working full time in long-daycare settings across Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Findings revealed that participants were ambivalent towards power, as they perceived themselves to be influential within internal workplace settings yet felt raising the professional status to be the responsibility of senior stakeholders in wider sociopolitical contexts. Recommendations for the prospective utilisation of advocacy, and implications for supplementary research are relayed.

An investigation into the advocacy role of the learning disability nurse

This paper discusses the interaction between the first and second stages of a three-stage grounded theory study that investigated the advocacy role of learning disability nurses in Wales. Definitions of advocacy and their advocacy support needs obtained from people with learning disabilities in the first stage informed the design of focus groups in which nurses compared their own perceptions of advocacy with those of people with learning disabilities. The nurses also discussed barriers to advocacy, independent advocacy services and their requirements for advocacy education. Findings revealed that all nurse participants advocated for their clients, but some definitions of advocacy by people with learning disabilities were not considered relevant to their current practice by some nurses. Nurses’ advocacy role varied with their work situation and was influenced by adherence to either the individual/medical or the social model of disability. All nurses recognised barriers to advocacy, but ability to access independent advocacy services was inconsistent, as was participants’ attitude towards and willingness to use these. Nurses’ received education in advocacy varied, but they expressed a need for ongoing support and training in advocacy related to their own work area and had specific requirements regarding how and by whom this should be provided.

National Standards in Children's Advocacy—What do Young People Say?

This paper discusses qualitative research into young people's views of independent children's advocacy services in Wales. We conducted focus groups and semi-structured individual interviews with over 80 children who had used advocacy or whose circumstances suggested them as potential users of advocacy. Our topics of enquiry were structured by research themes drawn from requirements and principles contained in recently introduced National Standards in Advocacy. Through these methods and themes we explored children's perceptions of advocacy in order to delineate characteristics of an effective service and to identify where they think services may need to improve.

Nurse Case Managers’ Perceptions of Advocacy

Case managers are at the forefront of managed care as they seek creative ways to advocate for the best interests of patients, while adhering to the increasingly stringent utilization guidelines and cost constraints of managed care. Nurse care managers are in the ideal position to act as effective advocates because they have the skills needed to "work the system" both within and outside the hospital to ensure that the patient's needs are met.