Advocacy has become a topic in healthcare today. Clients often mention the want for an advocate. A few definitions of a patient advocate is “A person who helps guide a patient through the healthcare system… trained health professionals who advocate when things are going wrong or who act as case managers when healthcare is uncoordinated, hard to understand, stalled or poorly communicated.” Patient advocates help “navigate the complex health care system by providing individual assistance, outreach, and education.”
Patient advocacy has been associated with feelings of empathy and wanting to protect patients.
Most hospitals have a patient advocate or case management department available. A sample list of patient advocate contacts is below. Birth Doulas do not speak for patients nor make medical decisions on their behalf.
- Huntington Hospital – 631 351 2310
- Nassau University Medical Center – https://www.numc.edu/patients-and-visitors/patient-advocates/
- NYC Health + Hospitals – https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/patient-guest-relations/
Another option is to find an independent patient advocate, such as available at https://www.patientadvocate.org/contact/ or https://www.cssny.org/programs/entry/community-health-advocates
References
- https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/patient-advocate
- https://www.patientadvocates.com.au/what-is-a-patient-advocate.html
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4958925/
- https://www.patientadvocate.org/contact/
- https://www.cssny.org/programs/entry/community-health-advocates
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