title: Professional development through policy advocacy: communicating and advocating for health and health equity.
abstract: Communicating and advocating for evidence-based public health policy is a key component of health promotion practice, but public health professionals often lack experience in policy advocacy. This article provides perspectives from public health professionals who participated in successful public health policy advocacy efforts in their community. Their experiences using evidence-based research to advocate for policies that promote health equity contributed significantly to their career development, and also contributed to community capacity to reduce tobacco-related disparities. This article builds on previous work emphasizing the value of career development opportunities that enhance and diversify the public health workforce, and provides practical tips and "lessons learned" that are relevant to a wide range of public health professionals.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Lydia Berenice
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: DHPE, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
authors.forename: Kristen Eileen
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA mata.holly@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mata
mesh_terms: D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D011635:Public Health Administration; D011638:Public Housing / Q000592:standards; D061845:Smoke-Free Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013192:Staff Development / Q000458:organization & administration*
keywords: advocacy; career development/professional preparation; tobacco prevention and control