CHAI Advocacy Education
Advocacy Education Initiatives
Each of CHAI's advocacy education initiatives is anchored in our mission of promoting health equity, defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as “when every person has the opportunity to attain his or her full health potential and no one is experiencing barriers to achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.”
Child Health Advocacy Institute's Advocacy Education team supports Children National Hospital's priorities for community health improvement and clinical issues with complex etiologies and solutions. These efforts are occurring in a milieu of change as the U.S. healthcare system moves toward value-based care, and medical education is increasingly stretched to prepare trainees to think beyond individual patients and diseases and to work in interdisciplinary teams.
Children’s National attracts medical students, residents, fellows, faculty and other clinical and non-clinical staff who are actively seeking advocacy opportunities. Our location in Washington, D.C. provides a dual reality: significant inequities based on race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, along with rich opportunities for community engagement and legislative advocacy. CHAI has significantly expanded its advocacy and community health education across the spectrum of learners, including close partnerships with community organizations to provide training on social determinants of health and health equity.
Our Vision for Advocacy Education
Our vision is to become a national model for socially accountable, interprofessional advocacy education, resulting in a skilled workforce driven to advocate for child health equity and systemic change.
The Children's National CARE mission is to excel in Care, Advocacy, Research and Education. The Child Health Advocacy Institute (CHAI) at Children’s National leads the institution’s advocacy efforts and advances policy and systems change to achieve health equity for all children. We also strive to teach students, residents, fellows, faculty and other staff the most effective methods to become child health advocates. We accomplish this through education and exposure to interdisciplinary advocacy opportunities at the individual, community and legislative levels. CHAI is committed to impacting the lives of children beyond the hospital and leads several initiatives to advance advocacy and public policy.
Advocacy Education Portfolio
To learn more about our advocacy education efforts, download our portfolio that summarizes the current initiatives that are led and supported by CHAI.
Community Partnerships
Take a look at how CHAI's Advocacy Education team has collaborated with community organizations to enhance our advocacy education efforts.