Advocacy
What is an Advocate?
An advocate is a person who represents and works with the family and their loved one to help navigate the bureaucratic maze.
An advocate provides the family with resources and information so that they can feel empowered and make intelligent decisions about their choices.
An advocate protects the rights of patients at home, hospital or nursing home.
Advocates provide these services through care management, which includes:
- A comprehensive medical and psychosocial assessment
- Development of a Plan of Care
- Monitoring the Plan of Care
An example of nursing home advocacy
Jeff Weinberg, president of Caregiver Champion, who is also a licensed nursing home administrator, was contacted by Mrs. K. Her mother was not getting proper care in a nursing home.
Jeff met with Mrs. K and discussed the problems her mother was experiencing in the facility.
He then developed a plan of care with Mrs. K which included meeting with the nursing home’s interdisciplinary team and discussing the problems with them. The team was asked how they plan to fix these problems and now Jeff is monitoring there plan and the issues discussed on an on-going basis.
Mrs. K’s mothers care has improved dramatically.
Health Advocate Code of Conduct
Caregiver Champion joined the Alliance of Professional Advocates this year. They subscribe to the following Code of Conduct and Professional Standards, as does Caregiver Champion. The Health Advocate Code of Conduct is as follows:
- Health Advocates will practice with compassion and respect for the clients and families with whom they work.
- Health Advocates’ primary commitments are to promote health, safety, and rights of their clients.
- Health Advocates will, maintain privacy on behalf of their clients and will keep confidential all activities and records according to them, and any applicable laws.
- Health Advocates will guide and assist their clients in medical decision making but at no times will make decisions about health or medical care or payment for medical services on their behalf.
- Health Advocates will promote use of their client values and belief system as the foundation of decision making.
- Health Advocates will at all times practice within their competency. Any request for services outside the advocate’s expertise will be referred to someone else who is equipped to provide these services to ensure the client is benefiting from the best knowledge base.
