A Scoping Review of Legislative Advocacy Training in Healthcare Professional Education

Abstract

To effectively support health advocacy efforts healthcare providers need to: 1) understand current legislative and regulatory systems in their communities; 2) learn how to effectively navigate established advocacy and policy processes; 3) educate legislators and administrative decision-makers about the complex healthcare system; and, 4) establish partnerships/coalitions that support community-guided change. The aim of this scoping review is to scope the published literature on political advocacy training programs offered to students in three healthcare provider disciplines (i.e., medical, nursing, and pharmacy). A final set of 41 articles are included. In the published literature, political advocacy training was more common in student nursing and medical programs than in pharmacy programs. Few interprofessional health advocacy student training programs were found, and most of these focused-on teaching advocacy from an academic medical-legal standpoint. [1] The intensity of and the training received in each program varied significantly.