Patient Self-Advocacy: Be Empowered, Ask Questions, Get Better Care
6 min readMay 4, 2021
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What Is Self-Advocacy?
Self-advocacy is defined as the act of representing yourself; in other words, speaking up for yourself and your interests to ensure your needs are met. Being able to speak up and push back is particularly important when receiving medical care: doctors, nurses and other staff are over-stretched, resources and support are scarce and patients may receive sub-par care under these circumstances. Patients must know what they need and how to get what they need in a way that is non-confrontational but…