Advocacy in Health Care

Advocacy in Health Care presents a research-based framework for advocacy that can be used as a guide to everyday clinical practice. It discusses how to speak out on behalf of patients and clients as well as how to empower them to speak out for themselves. The main themes are illustrated with case-study examples from general hospitals and community settings, as well as from the fields of learning disabilities and mental health. This book will appeal to students, qualified professionals and independent advocates working with patients and clients within the health-care system, including nurses, doctors, social workers and those in professions allied to medicine. The nature of advocacy; The risks of advocacy; Types of advocacy; An advocacy flowchart; Wants and their assessment; Empowering clients to self advocate; External advocacy; Reducing the risks; Advocacy schemes for people with special needs; The role of patients' relatives; Independent advocacy; Supervision; An advocacy curriculum; Case studies; The way forward; References; Index "Kevin Teasdale opens the eyes of the sceptics among healthcare professionals to the fundamentals of advocacy in a manner that is stimulating and non-confrontational"

"This book is a good read for all those currently acting as advocates.

With its clear explanations of all the parameters surrounding the field, through to guidelines for training and development, as well as practice, it is as useful to those who currently practise advocacy as those who are considering taking on this worthy mantle. "
Health Service Journal

“The book is ideally suited to the needs of nurses. For students, often unsupported as they begin to grapple with some of the dilemmas discussed…this could be an invaluable text.”
Journal of Interprofessional Care

Kevin Teasdale is the author of Advocacy in Health Care, published by Wiley. To maintain the correct balance between patient choice and patient protection, all health care practitioners must draw on their own knowledge and training. Patients often feel they have been badly informed, or have been deprived of the power to make decisions, even though the practitioner was "acting in the patient's best interests". This book discusses and evaluates the two main approaches to advocacy: empowering the patients with information, and endorsing their needs by speaking out on their behalf. It is an accessible yet authoritative analysis of the nature of advocacy in the health care professions, and puts forward a research-based model which practitioners can use in their study or in everyday