title: Public Policy Involvement by Certified Health Education Specialists: Results of a National Study.
abstract: Advocating for health-related activities is an essential part of being a health educator and knowing how to advocate is an important part of the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam. However, based on previous research, there may be a gap between knowing how to and actually participating in public policy activities. The purpose of this study was to determine public policy involvement of CHES.
  
  
  
  Surveys were mailed to a random sample of 500 CHES (41% response rate).
  
  
  
  The highest selected public policy activities by CHES were the following: voting at an election (88.9%), contacting a public office (49%), and providing policy-related information (42.9%). The number of locations CHES individuals selected in having training on advocacy was a predictive factor in their confidence to perform advocacy. Positive correlations between perceived knowledge and effectiveness of the public policy process and self-reported involvement in public policy were found.
  
  
  
  Although there is moderate self-reported involvement in public policy activities, more emphasis needs to be placed on raising the confidence of CHES to perform advocacy-related activities in the field.
authors.affiliation: The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA rachel.mahas@utoledo.edu.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahas
authors.affiliation: The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Wasshenova
authors.affiliation: The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.
authors.forename: F Jeannine
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Everhart
authors.affiliation: The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boardley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education; D040441:Health Educators / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011050:Policy Making; D011057:Politics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: advocacy; certified health education specialist; health education; health promotion; public policy