Finding Your Resilience

Pediatricians are often the first to see an issue playing out in their communities and its impact on their patients’ health. You see a problem and you want to fix it – it’s in your nature and likely one of the reasons you came to pediatrics in the first place.

This also means that pediatricians are often taking on more work and stretching yourselves to meet the needs of your communities, whether it’s serving more patients who live in rural areas, applying for a leadership position in your state to ensure that kids have a seat at the table or spending extra hours outside of your clinical duties to volunteer for a group like AAP.

While some days advocacy can feel invigorating and offers a way to channel your desire for change into action, there are other days when it can feel daunting or even impossible to balance it all.

Wherever you are in your advocacy journey, this section offers some ideas and techniques to help keep your advocacy sustainable, recognizing that change doesn’t happen overnight and is often the culmination of advocates just like you who have found ways – big and small – to move the needle over time. Importantly, know that AAP is here to support you.

Keeping Your Issue Relevant

In today’s complex media environment, new topics dominate the headlines each day — which can make keeping your issue in the news feel daunting. Below are some key tactics to break through the noise.

Leverage Your Partnerships

Advocacy is a team effort! When you want to get coverage for your issue, think about whether any of your coalition partners might be interested in helping out, or whether other organizations or individuals with similar missions might be willing to join your team. If you’re advocating for nutritious school lunches, for example, consider working with state or local PTA chapters, where you’re likely to meet engaged parents who share your goal.

Partnerships can take many forms. They can be as involved as writing op-eds and letters to elected officials together — or as simple as retweeting someone’s social media content. Regardless of the partnership option you pursue, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone — and others are eager to help.

Connect with the “News of the Day”

In the 24-hour non-stop news cycle, you’re always contending with new news. Fortunately, child health is something everyone cares about. That’s why it’s helpful to relate your hard work to the headlines. Here’s some ways to do that:

• Find common ground. Does the “news of the day” have a children’s health component in the story? For example, as a topic like the COVID-19 pandemic dominates news headlines, it’s important to keep the needs of children front and center. Take a sweeping, national issue, and focus in on what it means for kids.
• Look at the local angle, even for prominent national and international news. Is Congress debating funding for key child health programs? How does that funding affect children in your community? Always try to make national debates digestible and relevant.
• Find existing opportunities for relevance. Is there an awareness day or month focused on the issue you care about? Or, is the program you’re advocating for reaching a milestone anniversary? Look for these evergreen opportunities to draw attention to your issue.
• Engage with elections. An election season is an important opportunity to elevate key child health issues to those running for elected office – at all levels of government. Look for opportunities to ask candidates about their positions on child health issues. Consider writing an op-ed about the importance of voting with children’s health in mind! Just as your elected officials represent you, you’re representing your patients — and making a real difference in their lives.

Be Creative and Nimble

Each day of advocacy looks different — so stay flexible. Always be ready for your issue to receive attention, to adapt your message to different audiences, and to pivot as the public’s priorities change.

Above all, make advocacy fun and fulfilling! If you’re usually on email, try your hand at Twitter. Share new stories that stand out and forge connections whenever possible. By doing so, your work will feel fresh, and you’ll reach new audiences, too.

Fitting Advocacy into Your Busy Schedule

Find Ways to Advocate with the Time You Have

Your work caring for children is incredibly important and time-consuming — and making room for advocacy might feel impossible. The good news? No matter your calendar, you can meaningfully contribute to the conversation.

Check out some simple ways to integrate advocacy into your daily routine.

• If you have five minutes, you might spend it thinking about a patient story that particularly stands out to you. Was the health issue preventable? How did you help? What was the outcome?
• If you have 30 minutes, consider something a bit more involved. You could set up Google news alerts with key words on child health, contribute to online conversations via social media, or contact your elected officials about your issue. Consider keeping a Post-It note with your congressperson’s office number on your desk for easy access.
• If you have an hour, you could draft an op-ed or letter to the editor for your local paper, or host a lunchtime “how-to” advocacy presentation.
• If you have a day, you might attend one of the AAP’s advocacy trainings or testify in a legislative hearing.
• Over time, you can schedule meetings with policymakers, develop relationships with them, and help your fellow pediatricians jumpstart their advocacy journeys.

Prioritize Based on Your Passions and Interests

Pediatricians naturally care about every child health issue — but you don’t need to lead the charge on each one.

For instance, if your expertise is in child nutrition, the brunt of your advocacy work may focus on that — while other devoted advocates will spring into action on issues like vaccine access or contraception.

Advocacy is most successful when you’re energized to participate — and that requires prioritization based on the issues that interest you most.

Turning to Your AAP Advocacy Home

Whether you want to make a change on a national scale, or you’re focusing on your home state, the AAP can help.

We’re your advocacy home base — ready to provide encouragement and resources every step of the way.

Celebrating Wins, Big and Small

When you’re juggling your time between advocacy and medicine, it’s all too easy to burn out. To stay motivated, you’ll want to celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how big or small.

Don’t just think about your long-term goal: Think about everything you’re doing to get there. Have you figured out the ideal solution to your issue? Celebrate. Have you found a partner to share in your advocacy efforts? Celebrate. Have you approached a decision-maker to try to find common ground? Celebrate. Have you taken a day off to rest and recuperate, and jumped back into advocacy the next day? Definitely celebrate.

Advocacy can be a long and frustrating process, and your wins may not always be linear. Whether you helped pass legislation or simply scheduled a meeting, you’ve come a long way — and you can continue moving forward.