Protecting Children and Families from Tobacco: Advocacy across Medical Disciplines

Issues: Collaboration among medical disciplines can be an effective strategy to promote policy and advocacy change with regard to tobacco prevention and cessation. Physicians are natural advocates for patients and families; however, many lack the proper training to effectively support collaborative multidisciplinary advocacy efforts. Description: To increase efficiency and effectiveness of physician advocacy, five medical associations collaborated to host a training of individuals from four disciplines: pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, and obstetrics/gynecology. The program included didactic lecture and small interactive breakout sessions. It sought to guide attendees through the various levels of advocacy, including state, local, and federal approaches. Lessons Learned: The multidisciplinary nature of the training connected physicians who practiced in close proximity, thus strengthening the coalition of tobacco champions in a particular area. Many of the attendees commented on the need for synergy among medical disciplines to more effectively address tobacco prevention. Additionally, the training provided attendees with the tools and structure to develop practical advocacy plans within their respective communities. Lastly, accepting applicants with varying ranges of advocacy experience provided a natural platform for peer-to-peer mentorship. Recommendations: Preliminary evaluations revealed a significant increase in preparedness towards identifying actions to become advocates for tobacco prevention and control policies. The format of the training promotes collaboration across disciplines and education of physicians with the anticipation that together, they can be effective advocates in their respective communities. Replicating similar collaborative models with international physicians may extend the training's objectives of educating physicians on how to be effective advocates.