Teaching multilevel policy and advocacy in aging-related classes: policy and practice lessons from a National Teaching Institute

Micro-, meso-, and macro-level policies shape the work of gerontologists, geriatricians, and others in aging, yet multilevel policy and advocacy are rarely examined by gerontological scholars or incorporated into aging-related curriculum. Gerontologists and geriatricians need more tools to understand key policy and advocacy concepts and how these concepts apply to their work. Therefore, we developed and delivered an Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education/Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization-sponsored four-hour workshop on policy and advocacy to attendees of the 2024 annual scientific meeting of the Gerontological Society of America. The purpose of the workshop was to enhance participants' confidence and abilities to teach advocacy, to incorporate their research into advocacy efforts, and to advocate within their campuses or organizations. We gathered pre- and post-workshop evaluation data from participants to examine its impact on these outcomes. Here, we provide a description of the content from the workshop and outcomes of the evaluation effort, which indicated that participating in the workshop had a positive impact on participants' knowledge and confidence related to advocacy. We believe this workshop-style approach serves as a model for others seeking to increase confidence and preparedness of faculty engaging in teaching and research-related to multilevel policy and advocacy efforts.