Friday, May 6, 2016

Roles Of A Patient Advocate


By Francis Riggs


Patient advocacy is a specialization that deals with activism for the patients, caregivers and survivors. A person who speaks for the patient may act individually or as a member of an organization. They may or not be concerned with a specific class of disorders. Both the individuals and the organizations provide similar services to individual patients. Some of those doing the roles of a patient advocate work for hospitals.

This is a new career in Sydney, AU and it is evolving faster. Everyone gets to know that patients need to be listened to and their rights taken care of. A number of those individuals working in hospitals have formed groups whose focus is to help patients. Because this career has come up, most health care individuals call themselves patient advocates after working in hospitals for long periods. Some of the universities are becoming aware of this confusion and have begun offering programs on this topic.

The advantage of working as an advocate is that you can specialize in any field. The most important thing is that you should put the interests of the patients at hand and also ensure that no one violates their rights. What this implies is that the most important bit is that patient is well represented.

The people working in this field are specialists in different areas. What they have specialized in does not matter. What matters actually is their contribution in making sure that the rights of patients have been taken care of

Requirements of an advocate differ with the field of work. Some requirements are the same for all activists. They do not apply in every situation. Variations are seen in different areas. Those seeking for jobs should examine if they fulfill these requirements.

Because people work in many fields, the responsibilities assigned to these individuals somehow differ. They will assist in different aspects according to their areas of specialization. Those specialized in medicine work in hospitals, nursing homes and in the community clinics. Others may choose to specialize in insurance and nonprofit organizations. Some of them will get their jobs in government agencies.

You are not expected to drop your job when you make a decision to help take care of rights of patients. You will be of help any time because hospitals will always be having patients. Your contribution will be appreciated always. It is a new venture and few learning institutions are offering certificate and degree courses in their colleges. Those assigned with the role of advocating for the rights of patients are supposed to represent them well in their activities.

If you have an interest in working as a patient rights activist, you do not need to go back and learn. You only need to choose an area you will specialize in and gain experience while working. As mentioned earlier, many of these professionals are also healthcare professionals who have advanced experiences in medical fields. They choose to volunteer during their free time. This is out of their hearts and not part of their obligation.




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