Health advocacy

Health Advocacy

Health advocacy (/ˈhɛlθ ædˈvəkəsi/) encompasses direct service to the individual or family as well as activities that promote health and access to health care in communities and the larger public. Advocates support and promote the rights of the patient in the health care arena, help build capacity to improve community health and enhance health policy initiatives focused on available, safe and quality care. Health advocates are best suited to address the challenge of patient-centered care in our complex healthcare system.

Etymology

The term "advocacy" originates from the mid-14th century, Northern French word "avocacie" which means "pleading," or "advocate." The term "health" comes from the Old English word "hælþ," which means "wholeness, a being whole, sound or well."

Related Terms

Patient Advocacy: This is an area of specialization in health care concerned with advocacy for patients, survivors, and caregivers. The patient advocate may be an individual or an organization, often, though not always, concerned with one specific group of disorders.

Health Policy: It can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society."

Public Health: This is the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities. This work is achieved by promoting healthy lifestyles, researching disease and injury prevention, and detecting, preventing and responding to infectious diseases.

Healthcare System: This is the organization of people, institutions, and resources that deliver health care services to meet the health needs of target populations.

Community Health: This is a field of public health that focuses on studying, protecting, or improving health within a community. It does not focus on higher risk individuals but on the population as a whole.