Abstract

Public Health Advocacy has been a major tool use by social workers and it importance in the control of local epidemics cannot be overemphasized as many report has been made on the impact on different health advocacy strategies on health outcome in different communities. This article critically reviews how social workers have been judiciously using this great tool in fostering healthy living and practices among people living with their communities. How public health advocacy has helped in the control of some diseases and getting desired behavioral changes was also review using different research articles that reported such successes. Inspire the great importance of public advocacy carried out by social workers there are still some limitations and challenges being faced in doing this, although these challenges carried between communities but this article reviewed it from a generalized perspective and suggestions we’re made on possible ways of overcoming such challenges and it’s hoped that if implemented it will go a long way in improving the current health advocacy done social workers. The concluding part of this article made some recommendations on ways public health advocacy can be done better laying emphasis on the need for evaluation of every health advocacy programs so as to measure progress made by such program and this can be done if social workers can get themselves involved in researches that critically review such programs. It also recommended that social workers should be integrated into decision making.

Keywords: Public health advocacy; Social workers; Health promotion; Public health awareness; Mass media; Neurological emergency