Cambridge Public Health researchers led by Dr Sebastian Walsh have published a feature in the BMJ evaluating the role of doctors in effective advocacy and recommend strategies to maximise trustworthiness.
"As the world recovers from the pandemic and faces up to grand challenges such as widening social and health inequalities, conflict, and climate change, the need for doctors to speak out is as great as it has ever been," they write. "But policy advocacy can be complex and, if done without due care and sensitivity, has the potential to damage public trust in the profession. In the urge to be trusted, it is easy to overlook the need to deserve that trust—by demonstrating trustworthiness (the ability to be relied on as honest, truthful, competent, and reliable). Better training can help doctors to become effective advocates without damaging trust."
Read more on the BMJ website.