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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1389649
This article is part of the Research Topic Social Science Contributions to Public Health View all 5 articles

Mechanisms of Young Professional Engagement in Health Policy Development: A Cultural Domain Approach

Provisionally accepted
Yulia Strekalova Yulia Strekalova *Lina Modjarrad Lina Modjarrad Sara Midence Sara Midence
  • University of Florida, Gainesville, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Engagement in public health policy development is critical to forward-thinking public health policy. There is a robust empirical case to support the prospect of the engagement of young adults in civic and research efforts. However, the literature is limited in conceptualizing the mechanisms of engagement in health policy development from the perspective of young adults. This study applied the concepts and methods of cognitive anthropology to identify the mechanisms of engagement in health policy development from the perspective of young people.Methods: Online elicitation and cognitive domain analysis were applied to collect and analyze the data. Students enrolled in a public health leadership class at a large U.S. southeastern university were invited to participate in an online discussion. Saturation was achieved after the eighth submission. Data were analyzed qualitatively for repetition and recurrence and quantitatively to assess their cultural saliency.Results: Thirty-two students submitted 147 individual engagement ideas. The analysis resulted in 24 unique mechanisms organized into 10 clusters. The most prominent engagement mechanisms included education, peer activities, advocacy, direct involvement, and activism.Discussion: In the dynamic landscape of public health, active involvement in health policy development presents a crucial pathway for leadership among young professionals. The application of cognitive anthropology methods contributes to the emerging science of engagement and allows to identify and measure consensus around the pathways for engagement in health policy development among young professionals.

    Keywords: Cultural domain analysis, engagement science, Health policy development, emerging leadership, Public health advocacy

    Received: 21 Feb 2024; Accepted: 04 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Strekalova, Modjarrad and Midence. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yulia Strekalova, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.