What is self-advocacy?   As a concept, self-advocacy means speaking up for yourself, knowing how to negotiate in your own best interest, and having the confidence to ask for what you need or question what you may not understand. It’s about knowing your rights and responsibilities and properly using the resources that are available to you.

The ability for individuals to self-advocate in healthcare decisions is critically important to achieving positive clinical outcomes and properly utilizing healthcare benefits and resources. This is especially true for individuals diagnosed with a chronic disease or serious illness.

Unfortunately, often when people are first diagnosed or experience an event, the newness of the situation and emotional stress leave them not knowing what to do. Even well-educated people may struggle to communicate their health-related needs, questions and fears. As a result, too often people fail to understand their choices or make informed, educated decisions.

Cardium Health seeks to empower individuals through education and caring support. Our goal is to help participants improve their health literacy and demonstrate self-advocacy. The result is individuals who actively participate in their own healthcare decisions. They take better care of themselves and are more likely to comply with treatment therapies. Self-advocacy is also about self-responsibility. When people are able to understand their health issues well enough, they take responsibility for them.

The benefit for employers is that as individuals’ confidence, quality of life and health status go up, their health costs go down. Ultimately, isn’t that the goal of disease management, wellness and lifestyle programs?