Advocating involves speaking up. There are many ways to advocate for change. I really enjoy the visual model of the social change wheel as it illustrates that there are multiple ways to work towards social change.
Prevention is even better than the “cure when it comes to treatment for medical and mental health. One of the best ways of improving-health is with early intervention and treatment. Why is this so essential?
Three kinds of advocacy include 1) self-advocacy 2) individual advocacy and 3) systems advocacy. Let’s spend some time getting to know the basics components of each.
Systems advocacy is focused on change of systems. This includes areas such as collecting and using data to influence research, funding, and advocacy that helps serve to be a collective voice, especially for those who are most vulnerable.
Since social change involves a shift in attitudes, values and actions, deliberate important dialogues need to take place. Conversations about topics such as racism and White privilege can create a sense of cognitive dissonance, which is defined as “the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.”
