A Preliminary Assessment of Op-Ed Writing With Graduate Public Health Students as a Pedagogical Tool to Increase Health Promotion Advocacy Skills

Advocacy in public health is crucial in addressing systemic inequities and disparities in the public health system. Public health professionals can benefit from learning skills in public scholarship to engage in public health advocacy. Public scholarship challenges professionals to disseminate research and knowledge compellingly for a broader impact. Opinion editorials, or op-eds, are among many ways to communicate public health knowledge to the community. The present study examines the effectiveness of teaching graduate public health students how to write op-eds through explicit teaching methods. Participants were 14 graduate public health students enrolled in a Health Policy and Leadership course. Results indicated that op-ed assignments could encourage students to engage in public health advocacy.