This post has been shared by the APHA Mentor’s Blog. It was written to help you start and grow an advocacy practice.
It is provided so you can find it in a search here at myAPHA.org, but you’ll need to link to the original post to read it in its entirety. Find the link to that post at the end of the excerpt.
Link to the original full length post.
Why it’s so important to understand business (why you will fail if you don’t)
This post was contributed by Elisabeth Schuler, Patient Navigator a mentor for those who are building an advocacy practice. Often people are drawn toward patient advocacy because in their own lives, they helped family members or friends struggling to overcome obstacles or find solutions as they navigated an illness, chronic disease or the transitions in the life of an elderly parent. Many come out of those experiences passionate that others going through the same thing should not have to “learn the hard way” and determined to use their newfound knowledge to help others. This was certainly my story. My young child suddenly faced a life-threatening diagnosis and there was no one who gave me a roadmap. I had to master quickly a completely unknown universe as we began the journey through her illness. At that time in 1998, I was thriving in my first professional career working as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State. Fortunately, I realized that my skills and training as a diplomat – the ability to learn new issues quickly, to conduct cross-cultural negotiations, to excel in written and oral communications – were perfectly suited to help me to navigate my daughter’s…