Patient Advocacy

Patient advocacy research papers look at the ethical need for advocacy for patients in the healthcare setting. Paper Masters writers can custom write any topic on patient advocacy you need.

In many ways, it can be said that patient advocacy is as old as the nursing profession itself. Indeed, the 45th World Medical Assembly in 1993 said, "Medical practitioners have an ethical duty and a professional responsibility to act in the best interests of their patients at all times". An advocate, according to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, is "one that pleads the cause of another." In today's health care field, there is a tremendous need for professionals who can plead the causes of patients with large insurance companies and HMOs.The nurse as the Patient Advocate is an enormous undertaking, and big business itself.

Patient Advocacy and the Mentally Ill

One of the earliest forms of patient advocacy was for the mentally ill. Founded in 1972, the Bazelon Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization, has sponsored litigation that has outlawed institutional abuse and won protections against arbitrary confinement. The center's goals include the reform of public systems to serve people with mental disabilities in their communities; services and support to help children with disabilities grow up in families, including access to federal disability benefits (SSI) and home- and community-based care for children with serious emotional disorders; and income support enabling people with mental disabilities to live with dignity in the community.

Patient Advocacy and HMOs

But Patient Advocacy has taken off as a concept since the introduction of HMOs, and now includes the entire spectrum of the health care field:

• Doctors
• Nurses
• Administrators
• Patients
• Lawyers
• Employers
• Government
• Insurance company executives.

As health care becomes big business, the line between cost effectiveness and patient care is being drawn all the more sharp. Patient Advocacy, as evidenced by the seemingly infinite number of special interest groups that claim to be advocates for every manner of disease, illness, chronic and terminal condition, is one of the "hot" Patient Advocacys in modern medicine. It is important then, in understanding the scope of Patient Advocacy, to survey the current professional literature. In doing so, a small glimpse into the vast nature of Patient Advocacy at the dawn of the 21st century can be gleaned.