About
Our Health Advocacy Database at Miami University is a collection of electronic materials made by professionals who advocate for human health and well being. Our Public Service Announcements address some of the social, behavioral, and environmental determinants that enhance quality of life.
Health advocacy advances the promotion of health through an empowerment model. Empowerment is a process of gaining mastery and power over oneself and one’s community to produce change (Lord & Hutchison, 1993), including the potential to communicate that change through oral language, written language, and body language (Ubbes, 2014).
Health advocacy comes out of the root word vocare from the Latin to mean “calling”. Professionals who integrate their vocation and avocation together will develop a passion and calling for humanitarian and environmental causes. This requires a liberal education grounded in the social studies and social sciences, leading to health advocacy and social justice causes as shown on the Health Advocacy Model (Ubbes, 2014).
References:
Lord, J. & Hutchison, P. (1993). The process of empowerment: Implications for theory and practice. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 12(1), 5-21.
Ubbes, V.A. (2014). Health advocacy model. Available at the Health Advocacy Database at Miami University @ http://dlp.lib.miamioh.edu/healthadvocacy.
