The Importance of Professional Advocacy at the State Level: A Coalition Model

Semin Hear 2022; 43: 035-044 DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1743543Professional advocacy communicates a viewpoint for or against a policy or issue, and is used to influence change to public policy, legislation, and/or regulations. State audiology associations are perfectly positioned to organize advocacy efforts for the profession at the state level. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to review the types of advocacy available to state organizations and the steps for hiring a lobbyist. In addition, the article presents a unique advocacy model in which multiple audiology and speech-language pathology organizations in the state of Ohio joined to form the Ohio Speech and Hearing Governmental Affairs Coalition (OSHGAC). There are numerous advantages of an advocacy coalition, most importantly a shared financial responsibility. Finally, several examples of the OSHGAC recent legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts are reviewed. [...] Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. 333 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001, USAArticle in Thieme eJournals: Table of contents  |  Abstract  |  Full text
Source: Seminars in Hearing - Category: Audiology Authors: Tags: Review Article Source Type: research