DPH 820 Module 1 Advocacy Roles in Public Health Example

Many Hands, One Ordinance: The Roles Public Health Professionals Play in Advocacy

Student Name

Doctor of Public Health Program, Aspen University

DPH 820: Public Health Policy and Advocacy

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

Many Hands, One Ordinance: The Roles Public Health Professionals Play in Advocacy

Public health professionals are trained to measure problems, yet many problems persist until someone argues for a change in policy. Advocacy is that argument made in public, with evidence, allies and a clear request. This paper examines the roles public health workers take as advocates, using a composite city of 310,000 whose health department and partners are considering a campaign to end the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes.

The Problem Behind the Campaign

In the city's most recent youth survey, 18% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past month, and nearly all of them used flavored products. National data point the same way: among US youth aged 12 to 17 who had ever used tobacco, about 81% reported that their first product was flavored (Ambrose et al., 2015). Flavors make first use easier, and nicotine does the rest.

What Advocacy Means Here

Christoffel (2000) describes public health advocacy as moving through three stages: gathering information about a problem, developing a strategy for change and taking action to secure it. Each stage calls on different skills. Epidemiologists dominate the first, planners and coalition leaders the second, and communicators and community members the third. No single professional can cover all three alone.

Roles Across the Campaign

The table maps the main advocacy roles to the campaign and to the limits each role carries.

Researcher and Informer

The health department's epidemiologists will map tobacco retailers by neighborhood, summarize youth use trends and review studies of flavor restrictions elsewhere. Their credibility depends on neutrality in method even when the conclusion supports a policy. Briefs will state what the evidence shows and what it does not, including evidence that some youth substitute other products after partial restrictions (Courtemanche et al., 2017).

Educator and Convener

Education builds understanding among parents, teachers and clinicians, but it seldom changes what stores sell. The convener role goes further by bringing together people with a stake in the outcome, especially young people and residents of neighborhoods where menthol marketing has been heaviest. Conveners who hand real decisions to partners gain trust that lasts beyond one campaign. Education also prepares the ground for policy by making the problem familiar before the ask arrives.

Media Advocate

News coverage shapes what council members believe their constituents want. Media advocates frame flavored tobacco as an industry practice aimed at young people rather than a matter of individual choice. They prepare spokespeople, offer local data to reporters and respond quickly when opponents frame the ordinance as government overreach.

Policy Advocate

Policy advocates meet decision makers, draft language and track votes. Here the line between roles matters. Health department employees may provide evidence and technical assistance when a council member asks, but lobbying for a specific vote on public time can breach rules on the use of public funds. Nonprofit partners, youth coalitions and private citizens carry the direct asks.

Education Versus Lobbying

Educating the public about the harms of flavored tobacco is advocacy but not lobbying. Urging a council member to vote yes on a named ordinance is lobbying. Charitable nonprofits may lobby within limits, and many choose to report their lobbying expenses under an expenditure test that gives clearer boundaries. Knowing which activity is which protects both partners and the campaign.

Watchdog After Adoption

Advocacy does not end with a vote. Once an ordinance passes, someone must check whether stores comply, whether enforcement is fair and whether youth use falls. In New York City, compliance checks and youth survey data were used to evaluate the city's flavored tobacco sales restriction, which was associated with lower odds of youth ever trying flavored products (Farley & Johns, 2017).

Ethical Duties

Advocates owe the public accurate evidence, fair treatment of opponents and attention to who bears the costs of policy. A flavor ban affects small retailers, some of them immigrant-owned, and enforcement must not fall on young people or target particular neighborhoods. Enforcement against retailers rather than purchasers, and support for store owners during transition, reflect these duties.

Leadership Across Roles

A campaign with many roles needs coordination. The health officer sets the evidence agenda, a coalition coordinator aligns partners and youth leaders speak from experience. Shared goals, clear agreements about who speaks for whom and regular check-ins keep the roles from colliding, especially when news coverage intensifies near a vote.

Lessons From Elsewhere

Evaluations of flavor restrictions show both promise and gaps. A national restriction on flavored cigarettes reduced adolescent smoking but left menthol and other products available, and some youth shifted to those products (Courtemanche et al., 2017). That finding argues for a comprehensive ordinance that includes menthol and all product types.

My Planned Role

As a doctoral student placed with the health department, my role will be researcher and informer: preparing a local evidence brief, a retailer map and a plan to evaluate the ordinance if adopted. I will support coalition partners with data on request while leaving direct lobbying to them, and I will document the campaign for my doctoral project.

Youth as Advocates

Young people are not only the population the ordinance protects; they are also some of its most effective advocates. Students who describe how classmates started with mango or mint pods speak with an authority adults lack. The health department's role is to prepare them with accurate facts, protect them from harassment online and make sure they are not used as props.

Measuring the Advocate's Contribution

Because advocacy outcomes depend on many actors, the value of any one role is hard to isolate. Tracking intermediate products, such as briefs delivered, partners convened, stories placed and questions answered for council staff, gives each role a record of what it contributed even before the vote.

Skills the Roles Require

The roles call for different skills: data analysis and plain writing for informers, facilitation for conveners, message discipline for media work and relationship building for policy advocates. Doctoral training covers the first well but the others less so, which is why partnering with experienced organizers matters.

Conclusion

Advocacy for the flavored tobacco ordinance draws on several roles: researcher, educator, convener, media advocate, policy advocate and watchdog. Each carries responsibilities and limits, especially for government employees. Understanding the roles lets public health professionals contribute their strengths while respecting the rules and the communities they serve.

References

Ambrose, B. K., Day, H. R., Rostron, B., Conway, K. P., Borek, N., Hyland, A., & Villanti, A. C. (2015). Flavored tobacco product use among US youth aged 12-17 years, 2013-2014. JAMA, 314(17), 1871-1873. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.13802

Christoffel, K. K. (2000). Public health advocacy: Process and product. American Journal of Public Health, 90(5), 722-726. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.90.5.722

Courtemanche, C. J., Palmer, M. K., & Pesko, M. F. (2017). Influence of the flavored cigarette ban on adolescent tobacco use. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 52(5), e139-e146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2016.11.019

Farley, S. M., & Johns, M. (2017). New York City flavoured tobacco product sales ban evaluation. Tobacco Control, 26(1), 78-84. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2015-052418