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.
Thinking About Developing a Patient Advocate Service?
This post was contributed by Karen Mercereau, RN Patient Advocates A mentor for those who are building an advocacy practice. Undoubtedly you are passionate about the role and determined to help people survive the medical system as well as possible. What do I mean about survive? You may already know that the Academy of Medicine report (2115) that states there are 12 million misdiagnoses in the US annually and that there are up to 440,000 deaths due in full or part to preventable medical errors (Dr. John James, 2013). Your clients will not know enough to protect themselves in this environment. Your work will enable them to have a safer journey through the system. To best serve your clients/families, you will need a process to follow, your own guide to a therapeutic approach. So, what is your plan to help, to advocate for your clients? One of the most important elements of developing your advocacy practice is to create and develop this process that will guide your steps in advocating for people. One of the critical elements in your process is an intake procedure and accompanying paperwork. What should be in that intake paperwork? Well, certainly name, address, emergency…