Advocacy tools

There are different tools that help to advocate health issues. These are media advocacy, lobbying, meeting, project visit, and community organising.

Media advocates design media campaigns around delivering messages to those (secondary targets) who can influence these people with the power (primary targets). Advocates want these influencers to act and communicate their messages to the authorities. It is not necessarily concerned about using national media.

• For example, think about a campaign about traffic accidents around schools. You may identify the school's administration as having the power to ask traffic slowing around the school.
• You can focus on student's parents, teachers, and students "find their voice" and deliver messages to school administration.

Lobbying is concerned primarily to directly influencing individuals who have the power to make the policy changes for which advocates are campaigning. It is influencing the policy process by working closely with key individuals in political and governmental decision making.

Another tool is the use of meetings, usually as part of a lobbying strategy or negotiation, to reach a common position. Project visits are another useful tool of advocacy to demonstrate good practice and information, education and communication as various means of sensitising the decision makers.