Resumo de Advocacy In Healthcare

Advocacy,in simple words, is speaking out on behalf of someboy else.Generally the advocate is a person with special,knowledge or training to do so and the client a person vulnerable to authority.ADVOCACY IN HEALTHCARE assumes great importance in a landscape of reduced staff, increasing patient population, necessity for high-tech knowledge and constant skill-upgradation and a worrying mindscape of commercialized attitudes on the part of healthcare providers and the pressure this brings on patients,families and healthcare professionals in different ways.Kevin Teasdale, based on a work-based advocacy course held at Rauceby Hospital in the U.K.
The author guides the reader,whether health professional or advocate [this could be another health professional/family member/NGO or the patient himself/herself] on how to speak out on behalf of a patient in order to put his mind at rest and help him make an informed choice.This is done within a research-based framework, illustrated by several case studies and personal experiences.Learning disabilities,mental health,old age and other possibly-disabling situations,besides the primary illness, are also considered within both a community setting and the clinical/impersonal/intimidating atmosphere of a hospital.
ADVOCACY IN HEALTHCARE, published in 1998[Blackwell Science] is an extremely useful guide not only in the circumstances described earlier, but also when one considers how quickly pandemics are created in a globalized world, new and strange diseases present themselves suddenly and a traveller might suddenly find himself in a strange country without knowledge of the system or the language.Building up the confidence of the world citizen in a trust-worthy medical system assumes greater importance in this scenario.
The book describes different types of advocacy and empowerment of patients and their families to speak up for themselves.It is also a very balanced presentation because it points out the risks of advocacy as well , in what is after all an activity that could bring one in conflict with authority and/or cause further deficiency of service to the patient.The pros and cons of each type of advocacy are discussed and examples from actual experience point out expedient ways of proceeding to achieve best results.
Chapter summaries make the book user-friendly.The theme itself, of influencing the healthcare system by speaking up to improve quality is now hugely relevant.An exhaustive Bibliography guides the truly-intersted reader to explore further.This is a book that should be part of every library and be read by health professionals and activists who wish to catalyze change for the better.
--- Visa Ravindran.

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