Report of the 2013-2014 AACP Standing Committee on Advocacy: Improving Advocacy through the Use of Implementation Science Concepts and Frameworks

INTRODUCTION According to the Bylaws of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the Advocacy Committee: "will advise the Board of Directors on the formation of positions on matters of public policy and on strategies to advance those positions to the public and private sectors on behalf of academic pharmacy." PRESIDENTIAL CHARGE President Peggy Piascik charged the standing committee on Advocacy with the following charge: "Working synergistically with the Research and Graduate Affairs Committee and building on President Bootman's Advocacy Committee work, the Advocacy Committee, led by Hershey Bell, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, will use 3 working groups to develop issues briefs in the areas of wellness and health promotion, community engagement, and the scholarship of engagement. The issue briefs will provide a statement of each topic's benefit to the public and recommendations for action by local, state, and federal agencies." Selection and Development of AACP public policy priorities: A sustainable approach for advocacy Academic experts continue to rank high among policy makers, including congressional staff as sources of trustworthy information. (1) AACP efforts to educate policy makers about issues of importance to academic pharmacy are therefore enhanced when they are developed using the content expertise of our members. The 2013-2014 standing committee on Advocacy continued the process developed by the 2012-2013 committee: "The creation of issue-specific workgroups is a strategy to improve AACP's capacity to proactively engage in public policy development and implementation. The expertise of each workgroup assists AACP in the development of strategies to enhance communications to and from AACP members on priority issues. The list of priority issues was established through AACP leaders and staff input and in alignment with the AACP policy framework. The rationale for such action is to: * ensure that AACP advocacy is aligned with organizational priorities; * engage more AACP members in the identification and articulation of AACP public policy positions; * increase AACP member awareness of AACP organizational activity related to public policy development and implementation; and * provide AACP members and staff with evidence-based policy/issue briefs to support effective organizational, institutional, professional, and individual advocacy. " Participation in the priority-issue workgroups was solicited from the AACP membership in a series of emails and to the attendees of the 2013 AACP annual meeting. AACP members with content expertise relevant to the priority issues were asked to submit their interest to AACP staff. President Piascik asked the advocacy committee to consider three priority issues: community engagement; scholarship of community engagement; and wellness and health promotion. The following rationale for including these three issue areas was shared by President Piascik with the committee. Community Engagement "In the 1980's, a community engagement movement began to emerge in higher education, asserting that a goal of the American university should be to restore its original purpose, that of preparing graduates for a life of involved and committed citizenship." (2) The current atmosphere of greater accountability in higher education includes calls for an engaged university. For health professions schools there are many opportunities in health care reform and funding available from agencies such as the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Academic pharmacy schools and faculty are perfectly poised to participate meaningfully in this effort and have done so for many years. Community engaged service is a valuable contributor to addressing critical public health issues. "While an area of emphasis for many universities or schools of pharmacy, many pharmacists are also actively engaged in this work. …