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Patient Advocacy

Patient Advocacy

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Patient Advocacy Seminar

As a relative, friend or volunteer, have you ever been called upon to support/advocate for a person in a healthcare setting? This patient advocacy video with HALO President, Julie Grimstad, will answer the most common questions when assisting those who are medically vulnerable. Watch the Video.

The Importance
of Patient Advocates

NEW – In this short video Alexandra Snyder from Life Legal Defense Foundation discusses the importance of patient advocates, especially during the unprecedented COVID crisis and also outlines the need for an advance health care directive. Watch the Video. 

Some Of The Topics Our Patient Advocates
Respond To Most Often Are:

How should I handle healthcare threats that my loved one is experiencing?

I think my mom (dad, friend, …) died from drug overdosing in hospice.
Am I crazy?

What should I know about the drugs used by hospices?

How can I find a pro-life hospice?

The hospital is threatening to stop my loved one’s treatment, including
tube-feeding. What can I do?

What type of advance directive do you recommend?

Should I have a do not resuscitate (DNR) order on file?

What can you tell me about ventilators and “pulling the plug”?

INTRODUCING A CRITICAL TOOL TO HELP YOU NAVIGATE THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM – KEEP IT HANDY!

June 28, 2022
Julie Grimstad

Are you prepared to be a patient advocate when a loved one is hospitalized? Many of us will find ourselves, often unexpectedly, in a situation calling for us to look out for the welfare of a seriously ill family member or friend. Successfully addressing inadequate communication between the medical team and the patient/patient’s representatives, neglect or denial of patient care, and other difficult circumstances requires an understanding of the “chain of command” in hospitals. A new document prepared by The Health Care Civil Rights Task Force offers a short course in patient advocacy when serious or grave issues arise concerning the care of a patient.  
 
“Effectively Navigating Hospitals When Advocating for a Loved One” (https://healthcarecivilrights.org/effectively-navigating-hospitals-when-advocating-for-a-loved-one/) is a guide to understanding how to navigate the “chain of command.” This document provides a “list of persons and their roles according to the order they should be approached with your issues.” From Staff Nurse all the way up the chain to the Chief Executive Officer, this comprehensive list is an invaluable tool to address your concerns successfully.

There are times, however, when it is necessary to work outside the chain of command. For instance, when a patient is in imminent danger there is no time to waste. This document speaks to those situations, providing the names of outside advocacy organizations, addressing when an attorney should be consulted immediately, etc.

HALO advises everyone to print this document and put it in a safe place, perhaps with your Medical Power of Attorney document, so that it is handy when needed – as it may be needed quite unexpectedly sooner or later.

Health Care Civil Rights Task Force Members

  • Michael A. Vacca, J.D., Task Force Chairman, The Christ Medicus Foundation
  • Father James Bromwich, R.N., M.A., S.T.L.
  • Julie Grimstad, Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization (HALO)
  • Terry McKeegan, J.D., Law Office of Terrence McKeegan
  • Joseph Meaney, Ph.D., The National Catholic Bioethics Center
  • Anne O’Meara, Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization (HALO)
  • Alexandra Snyder, J.D., Life Legal Defense Foundation
  • Bobby Schindler, The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network
  • Deb O’Hara-Rusckowski, R.N., M.B.A., M.T.S.
  • Louis Brown, J.D.,The Christ Medicus Foundation

PROTECTING LIVES THROUGH PATIENT ADVOCACY

December 2020
Julie Grimstad

Each member of HALO has a story to tell. This is my story.

I graduated from nursing school in 1969. As far as I knew, there was universal respect for the sanctity and equality of human life. Patients could refuse burdensome treatment and we respected their wishes, but one thing we did not do was deliberately cause a patient’s death.

In the summer of 1985, a friend called and asked, “Julie, what do you know about Living Wills?” She informed me that Living Wills—the first healthcare advance directives—were introduced by the Euthanasia Educational Council as “a foot in the door” for social and legal acceptance of euthanasia. In fact, Montana, where I was living at the time, had just enacted a Living Will law that permitted patients to be starved and dehydrated to death! Read more…

PATIENT ADVOCATES Put Compassion into Action

by Julie Grimstad

A patient may need someone he trusts by the bedside in order to feel secure enough to go to sleep.

Visiting the sick is a work of mercy. Mercy is similar to compassion, which means “to suffer with” another, but it is more challenging than mere compassion. Mercy is putting our kindly inclinations—which we are often tempted to resist—into practice through readiness to assist. A relative or volunteer advocate who accompanies a medically vulnerable person to doctor appointments or stays with the person when hospitalized or in a nursing home contributes immeasurably to the person’s well-being. Read more…

Patient Toolbox

Citizen’s Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) provides a “Patient Toolbox.” Use it to protect your rights, understand your options, and maintain control over your treatment decisions. Click here.

Articles on Patient Advocacy:

Patient advocates put compassion into action
Patient advocates help provide essential care to vulnerable patients

Patient Toolbox

Citizen’s Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) provides a “Patient Toolbox.” Use it to protect your rights, understand your options, and maintain control over your treatment decisions. Click here.