The Issue of Advocacy in the Human Services Field: An Action Plan for Helping the Elderly Population

There are many limits to advocacy as there is only so much that can be done and these limits are often caused by the boundaries that are set. There are many different types of boundaries. The first type is professional boundaries. This is

By completing this module you will learn about the limits to the advocacy role and

As a nurse, one way to advocate for the seniors in our care, is to know what resources are available in the county, such as, home health, food programs, transportation assistance, along with providing with a name and contact information of a social worker for the department of human resources, or even having a social meet with them and their family before discharge.

Self Advocacy - People speaking out for themselves to express their own needs and representing their own interests. Often people with some form of disability may have received some support in achieving self-advocacy – this is a model employed by People First – a group run by people with learning disabilities for people with learning disabilities.

The citizen advocate is unpaid and independent of service providers and families and is a

When you are supporting a person within the care setting it is important to use a variety of advocacy models, these can include, myself as a peer advocate, this is where I have acted on behalf of person within the home whilst supporting them with a G.P visit or district nurse visit, there is also a self-advocacy this is where the person will respond to the question asked themselves but could need some support or advice when acting in their best interests. There is group-advocacy this is where we carry out a care plan review and involve all parties which include the person themselves, family members and key members of staff. We also involve professional advocates in the home when required to act in the best interest of a person, this has been

From Dorothea Dix in the 1800’s to Frank Bowe and the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD) in the 1970’s, many disability rights activist tried to win support for anti-discrimination laws. Many times, it was the parent advocates at the forefront, who were demanding that their children be taken out of institutions and asylums, and

After the Great Depression the United States implemented several programs to assist the American people with low income and disabilities (Dingell, 2015). Within these programs included Medicaid and Medicare, which were not set up to serve for the purpose of long-term care for seniors. Today we find that due to the set up of the programs there is a void in the assistance of long term care of seniors in our country (Dingell, 2015).

Advocates play an important role in the course of empowering individuals who require support to exercise his or her rights, and advocates create awareness in the public concerning the problems. An advocate takes on the role to speak and stand for an individual or group in need. The advocate becomes the voice of the disadvantaged or discriminated population to stop the oppression. Advocates offer assistance and information concerning the person’s rights, listens, ask questions, and much more. The advocate is the person who is there only for the disadvantaged and discriminated population to help explore alternatives on how to achieve, maintain, and protect their interest. The

Briefly describe a problem that concerns a number of the clients and/or workers in the agency that reflects a broader social/political problem. Describe how you, in collaboration with the clients & workers would design an advocacy plan to address the problem at a legislative level. Include your analysis of the context and your process of strategic planning.

In nineteen ninety Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act. This act was established in order to eliminate discrimination of people with disabilities and to break down barriers in society that limits the freedom a disabled person. According to Section 2 Subsection A part one, "some 43,000,000 Americans have one or more physical or mental disabilities, and this number is increasing as the population as a whole is growing older." As the number suggests there are a lot of people that would be classified as disabled making this act very important. This paper will look at the Americans with Disabilities Act as how it pertains to helping people with disabilities based on who is covered, what are their rights, and what legal actions

Also communication and involve people and reinforcing the changes are very important strategies of advocacy (Grand Canyon University, 2011). When the nurses choose to take on the role of

The purpose of this concept analysis is to clarify, define, and refine how patient advocacy is perceived in the nursing community. Much of the literature has attempted to define patient advocacy and emphasis its role within the nursing profession. This paper will discuss multiple definitions of patient advocacy from existing literature and refine them into two critical characteristics.

Advocacy is risky, in that other peers may disagree with the decision when addressing the good of individuals or the nurse may potentially lose their position. But being able to find a balance between the foreseeable risks and benefits involved when advocating for better conditions is what leads to a more effective patient care plan (Edelman, Mandle, & Kudzma, 2014, p. 111). In the novel “A Nurse’s Story” by Tilda Shalof (2015), a positive example of advocacy is demonstrated between a patient named Sylvie and a nurse named Tracy. Sylvie is on the top of the organ transplant list for a new lung, but needs oxygen at the moment because she is struggling to breathe. The nurses are put in a situation where she either gets a sedation and intubation but gets taken off the transplant list, or gets the sedation and intubation to help her breathe at the moment. Despite the repercussions of possibly jeopardizing Sylvie’s chance for a lung transplant and going against the doctor in charge’s disapproval, she still gave her a dose of morphine to ease her breathing. Tracy in this situation is a perfect example of an advocate nurse. There were so many risks involved, but she was able to put a whole picture together and add in her instinct to come up with a plan of action. The interpersonal interaction between Tracy and her patient previously enabled her to spend more time to connect with the patient to understand what she needs and how to solve this situation. Not only did the nurse-patient relationship help the patient and her family feel as though they are being cared for, but also helped them feel more motivated to open up to the nurse to achieve better satisfaction. As said in the novel, “it was a small thing, but it was a big thing to Sylvie and her mother” (Shalof, 2015, p.

The book As We Are Now, written by May Sarton, targets those concerned with the care of elderly individuals in nursing homes. In the book, Sarton artistically highlights the plethora of ongoing issues social workers face in their work as they attempt to provide quality care to the elderly population. The book is written as the memoirs of a very thoughtful elderly woman, Caroline Spenser, as she spent part of her life in a nursing home; and brings to light the lack of quality of care that elderly individuals received when living in such a facility in the 1970’s.