Medical Health Advocacy
Nurses provide personal health support as a medical advocate. Dealing with the health system isn’t always easy. Having a Medical Health Advocate with you during medical appointments can ease difficult conversations and make sure that your concerns are raised. Medical Health Advocates are usually nurses but could be another regulated health professional when appropriate. The Advocate will take a clinical history before the first appointment and obtain a list of concerns and questions before every appointment.The Medical Health Advocate will:
- Ensure that your voice is heard and that your medical health issues are represented to the clinician accurately.
- Add a 2nd clinical perspective and suggest questions you might not think to ask.
- Document the visits as a memory helper for memory loss or cognitive decline
- Provide accurate reporting back to the POA or medical health representative
Pro-tip: Your health comes first. The Advocate is there to make sure that concerns are clearly raised if you tend to be shy or dismissive about your needs.