Be the Champion of Your Health: Self-Advocacy in Your Health Care.

Self-advocacy in your Health care is now a required skill in order receive appropriate care. As the industry of healthcare becomes increasingly dependent on technology, and corporate management rations your access to time with your human providers, the only way to ensure that you receive the best possible care is to become part of your Health management team.

Feeling empowered is not something we normally associate with our interactions with Health care professionals. Welcome to the new age.

You do know how to advocate, right?

Of course you do.

Like when you take your child or an elder to a doctor’s appointment. You speak for them when they cannot. Only now, you get to step into that powerful role for your Self.

Self-Advocacy Starts at Home

Make well-informed Health decisions before needing to see a doctor. Healthy lifestyle choices can prevent many disease processes for ever starting. If you are already diagnosed with a disease and undergoing treatment, naturally supporting your body’s own immune response can help.

So eat nutritious foods, exercise moderately, drink plenty of water, get enough beneficial sleep, stay socially engaged, and keep your mind challenged. These all contribute to Healthy lifestyle.

Partner With Your Doctor

Become well-informed of your diagnosis and treatments. Feel empowered to contribute your thoughts and observations to your physician. Remember, you are the only one living in your body, so you know things about your body that no one else knows. Share your knowledge with the people who can use the information to optimize your care.

Doing Your Research

With a critical mind, study up on your diagnosis or concern on the Internet. Now use some discretion here. As we all know, there is lots of really bad information on the web, so always evaluate claims carefully. Miracle cures exist only in the language of the marketers.

Prepare Questions – and Ask them!

There is no such thing as a dumb questions. Bring your research along to your doctor’s appointment for verification. If you don’t know or understand something, ask about it. If you don’t understand the answer, ask again. You should not leave an appointment without feeling comfortable you know what is happening.

Question Authority

If you do not understand the meaning or risks (every medical intervention has them) of a test or procedure, find out from your professional. Every doctor is required to provide you with informed consent. That is you should fully understand all risks and benefits of any intervention. It doesn’t matter if it is a vaccine injection or surgery, you are supposed to be fully informed.

Informed consent is also an area where doctors don’t always share all information effectively. They are trying to talk you into giving permission, after all, so they sometimes do not clearly state possible negative side effects. So it is up to you to ask.

Be Present

So sign yourself up for your own Health care team! Advocating for yourself is one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself and your family. In participating in your own Health care decisions, you show others your commitment to being Healthy and you know that you will be receiving the care you want.

Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.
― Adrienne Rich