Creating Healthy Families and Communities in California: An Advocacy Video Project

Advocacy for the cause of sustaining public health programs, including federal assistance programs that benefit families with limited resources, is an essential and critical activity. Harnessing the power of audiovisual media is an effective method for conveying salient information to targeted key stakeholders and for shaping public opinion on critical public health issues. The brief, 3 minute video, “Creating Healthy Families and Communities in California” was produced as an advocacy tool to be used in a variety of settings, including face to face meetings, for community outreach purposes, and for web-based communication. The purpose was to capture the essence of the USDA-funded California Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (CA EFNEP), including the goals, philosophy, components of peer-education and reasons for success. CA EFNEP extends research-based knowledge into community practice in the areas of nutrition, meal planning, food budgeting and food safety. The viewers of the video have included federal and local legislators as well as other decision makers and stakeholders. To sustain the benefits of advocacy at the local and broader audience level, the video will also be housed on the CA EFNEP website.