Community Pediatrics & Advocacy at CHOP

The Community Pediatrics & Advocacy Program (CPAP) began formally with support from the Anne E. Dyson Community Pediatrics Training Initiative (CPTI). Dr. Dyson created the CPTI in conjunction with national leaders in the fields of Pediatrics, Community Health, Public Health, and Legislative Affairs. As a pediatrician, Dr. Dyson observed the health impact of societal and environmental issues confronting children and families. As a teacher of pediatric trainees, Dr. Dyson recognized the need to equip young physicians with skills to help them work within communities. Because medical education traditionally focused on the care of the individual child, residents were trained primarily to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. The goal of the Dyson Community Pediatrics Training Initiative was to broaden the focus of pediatric resident education to include an understanding of and responsibility for the health of all children in their communities.

After the Dyson grant to CHOP was completed, the CHOP Advocacy Program continued through internal funding. It is closely affiliated with Developmental Pediatrics, Adolescent Medicine, and Primary Care, but connects to many divisions at the Hospital.

What is advocacy?

Advocacy is any attitude or idea, strategy, or set of behaviors that has a specific goal to improve the physical, emotional, or environmental condition of an individual child or adolescent, their family, or their community. The goals of child advocacy include: 1) achieving social justice for youth; 2) empowering families; and 3) assisting communities to support the healthy development of children and adolescents. The role of the advocate is to speak on behalf of youth and to empower them to speak for themselves. Advocates work to affect the condition of an individual, either directly or indirectly, by fostering the health of families, communities, and populations.

Children and adolescents, in particular, need strong advocates. It is well documented that children and adolescents are biologically and behaviorally susceptible to disease, cannot vote and therefore no political voice, and often have little to no control over their environments. Therefore, advocates are needed to maintain and enhance vital health and educational services, resources, and entitlements for children and adolescents.

 

Why is advocacy important to pediatricians?

Pediatricians, regardless of specialty, advocate for children and adolescents everyday. The American Academy of Pediatrics defines pediatricians as physicians who strive to attain optimal physical, mental, emotional, and social health and well being for all infants, children, adolescents and young adults. Pediatricians have a unique opportunity to address all aspects of health and wellness, which cannot be achieved by medical treatment alone. The mission of CPAP is to teach residents to become pediatricians who are as comfortable and competent in their role as child advocates as they are in their medical practice.

How is CPAP achieving its goals?

The goal of CPAP is to broaden the focus of pediatric resident education to include an understanding of and responsibility for the health of all children in their community. CPAP has developed a curriculum and outlined core skills that will enable residents to effectively advocate for children, adolescents, and their families by working in partnership with community-based agencies. CPAP aims to create a framework for professional development by providing opportunities to understand, experience, and practice core advocacy skills. View the curriculum for more details.

 

Core Advocacy Skills

1) Needs Assessment

  • Defining the problem in context & as clearly as possible
  • Identifying key stakeholders & other sources of information
  • Exploring previous & ongoing efforts to address the problem
  • Interpreting critical information to create a meaningful and obtainable plan of action

2) Networking

  • Initiating contact with key stakeholders from various communities
  • Fostering professional interactions with multiple disciplines
  • Maintaining collaborative relationships
  • Coordinating collaborative efforts to attain mutually identified goals

3) Program Development

  • Creating a plan of action that responds to a specific community need
  • Developing an infrastructure to meet specific goals
  • Acquiring necessary funds for implementation
  • Implementing programs, focusing on sustainability
  • Evaluating feedback & incorporating recommendations

4) Cultural Effectiveness

  • Building trust with individuals & communities
  • Listening non-judgmentally & questioning appropriately
  • Recognizing different perspectives of health & illness

5) Public Presentation

  • Speaking effectively to community groups, families, & media personnel in public settings
  • Preparing data to educate, affect attitudes, or obtain funding from the target audience

6) Policy Development

  • Identifying areas of public policy amenable to change
  • Researching history of specific policy areas & established guidelines on related health outcomes
  • Designing a plan of action that builds on incremental policy change to achieve a broader goal

7) Educating Elected Representatives

  • Building a reputation as child/adolescent policy expert on interest area through effective networking and public presentation
  • Identifying key representatives & staff members
  • Initiating contact and maintaining dialogue with key representatives & staff members
  • Lobbying effectively to key representatives & staff members, concisely communicating information pertaining to a specific health outcome

 

 
 

Hosted by Phillypeds.com. Last updated February 2007.