PATIENT ADVOCATES PUT COMPASSION INTO ACTION Visiting the sick is a work of mercy. Patient advocates manifest mercy by showing compassion to sick and suffering people. Compassion means “to suffer with” another, to put our kindly inclinations—which we are often tempted to resist—into action through readiness to assist. A person who accompanies a medically vulnerable […]
PATIENT ADVOCATES ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED: PART II Read More »
PATIENT ADVOCATES NURTURE HOPE I have served as a volunteer patient advocate for 35 years. The deepest kinds of suffering I encounter are profound unhappiness and loneliness, resulting in loss of hope. It is difficult for people who are intensely unhappy to believe that they will ever be happy again. That is when they desperately
PATIENT ADVOCATES ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED: PART I Read More »
Healthcare advance directives are legal documents by which individuals express their wishes regarding medical treatment and/or appoint a trusted person to speak for them any time they are unable to make treatment decisions for themselves. Not all advance directives are equal. Many have been drafted by people who fail to comprehend the reverence, awe, and deep respect
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When a healthcare provider recommends palliative care or hospice, patients and their families need guidance so they can make the most life-affirming decisions possible in their circumstances. The Task Force on Civil Rights in Health Care advises people to become informed and ask questions before electing a palliative care or hospice program. The goal of palliative
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