The Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) believes in the importance of advocacy, especially sharing personal stories about living with obesity to change perceptions and eliminate stigma.

Part of our work is also improving the way obesity is addressed in healthcare and educating health professionals. That’s why we were honored to team up with the Obesity Medicine Association (OMA) to write an article about obesity and advocacy for their well-respected medical journal, Obesity Pillars.

Key Points from the Article:

The article, with contributions from Tracy Zvenyach, PhD, MS, RN, OAC Director of Policy Strategy and Alliances, and Elizabeth Paul, OAC National Board Member, explains how advocacy can improve the lives of patients with obesity in many different ways at various levels. It also shows how clinicians can get involved with advocacy.

What is Advocacy?

Advocacy uses education and public policy to raise awareness and create laws that improve access to obesity care, reduce bias and help patients with obesity. This can be done through traditional media, social media, petitions and talking directly with policymakers.

Three Levels of Advocacy

There are three levels of advocacy that all work together:

• Self-Advocacy: Patients learn and use knowledge to take part in their healthcare decisions.
• Individual Advocacy: Individuals or groups help further the interests of one or more people, such as asking insurance companies to cover medications or services.
• Systems Advocacy: This aims to change larger structural issues through global education, public awareness and policy changes that improve access to obesity care and reduce weight-based discrimination.

A Patient’s Perspective on Obesity Advocacy

Elizabeth (Liz) Paul, an OAC National Board Member with personal experience living with obesity, shares her personal thoughts about advocacy in the article. She talks about how patients can engage in all three levels of advocacy, such as:

• Standing up against bias
• Demanding proper care and respect from health professionals
• Participating in patient panels to educate clinicians
• Sharing stories with legislators to support policy changes

Liz writes, “Having the patient with obesity share experiences can be empowering for advocacy, highlighting the impact of personal stories, while also exposing the patient’s vulnerability, which may lead to a better appreciation to the lives of other individuals with obesity.”

Why Advocacy is Crucial

Advocacy is crucial to obesity because there is still a lot of misunderstanding and stigma surrounding it. We need advocacy to drive efforts that will support real progress in obesity prevention, treatment and management.

The OAC regularly engages in all three levels of advocacy, working with patients, clinicians, researchers and more to improve the lives of people with obesity.

To read the full article in Obesity Pillars, click here.

Learn about how you can advocate with the OAC by visiting the OAC Action Center!