The 13 Best Resources for Patient Advocacy

We spend a lot of time reading about our favorite topic, patient advocacy. The internet is full of so many wonderful resources from so many amazing foundations and associations. We’ve put together a list of 13 of our favorite sites, pages, lists, and articles to help you cull through Google searches.

1. The Mighty – Advocating for Yourself
   Angela Hartlin does an excellent job of distilling a few key things that every patient can do, right now, that will help them feel more empowered in their healthcare experience today.
2. WebMD – Being Your Own Advocate
   WebMD takes a hard look at what the differences are between what patient expectations are and what your doctor might think is going on how best to meet in the middle.
3. NextAvenue – Stand Up for Yourself
   NextAvenue talks about how important it is to speak up for yourself. We agree entirely because there’s usually no one else who will do it for you.
4. ACSH – A Doctor’s Perspective
   Outlining from a doctor’s perspective why they want you to advocate for yourself, and how to do it ACSH does a great job of telling you how. Our favourite part is where they tell you to be prepared to repeat yourself. So apt.
5. US News – Be Your Own Advocate
   US News makes the point that you need to maintain your own medical records to best advocate for yourself. Knowledge is definitely power.
6. Justice in Aging – Resource List
   Justice in Aging has put together an incredible resource library of ideas and places to go to make sure you’re getting the most out of your time with your doctor.
7. Patient Advocate Resource List
   This is an incredible list of resources from the Patient Advocate Foundation. Everything from understanding health insurance to interacting with your physician, this page has you covered.
8. Be MedWise – Ask Questions
   This might be our favourite article ever. It talks about why asking questions about your health is so important. “Questions are the answer. Your health depends on good communication.” We completely agree, Be MedWise.
9. Engaged Patients – Participation
   We’re big fans of the work happening over at Engaged Patients. They have an incredible list of resources that can help navigate even the most trying of medical situations. They have even created helpful worksheets to make sure you have the right information at the right time.
10. Change Together – Rare Disease Advocacy
    Change Together’s post on the importance of advocacy when dealing with rare disease definitely makes our list. There’s something so powerful about groups of people who share something unique banding together.
11. NPAF – Advocacy Roadmap
    The National Patient Advocacy Foundation has a great resource available for those caregivers that are taking on the role of advocate for someone they love.
12. ACA Marketplace
    We’d be remiss if we didn’t add in the Affordable Care Act marketplace to this list. Nothing puts you more in control of your health than making sure you have the best insurance option you can get your hands on.
13. Patient Safety Movement – Medical Error Infographic
    Because it’s number 13, we figured we’d end our list on a more frightening note. The Patient Safety Movement’s infographic on medical errors is enough to make you realize you have to take matters into your own hands. This is a massive problem in the US today (and worldwide). Preventable medical errors should not be the third leading cause of death, full stop. Good news, PSM has resources to help you counteract the disfunction and take more control of your healthcare.

And of course, there’s the Your Vesa blog where you’ll find many more articles like this.