History serves to enrich our knowledge, value our present, and avoid committing the same mistakes in the future. The history and evolution behind advocacy is no exception.
An analysis behind the concept of advocacy reveals not only multiple definitions and explanations related to patient advocacy, beyond acting on behalf of the vulnerable, but also attributes its roots all the way back from the Ming Dynasty to its American birth in the 1920’s, and more recently as a democratic human rights tool. A brief rich historical tradition serves as a background to put into perspective the reason behind the birth, evolution, and growth of advocacy until its current important role in influencing health, not only in the United States, but as a global growing movement.
This article, published in the Juniper Online Journal of Public Health in 2018, provides a historical perspective on advocacy. It also adds to prior related research of the author, Ana Rita Gonzalez, President and CEO of Policy Wisdom, on the concept and vision behind health equity. But there is more behind the meaning and history of these two intertwined terms as impactful to health, equality, and basic human dignity but, most importantly, as a tool able to amplify the voice of ONE, or MANY.