Mission Statement

The Bikur Cholim Patient Advocacy Program facilitates effective communication between patients, their families, and healthcare providers.  By providing information, guidance, and support, the Program strives to best enable patients and their families to make informed and considered decisions regarding a patient’s physical and emotional needs in each medical situation.

Project Need

Most patients (and their family members) have very little familiarity and experience with the intricacies of receiving medical care. Unfortunately, when an individual does require medical treatment, this unfamiliarity can lead to many challenges.

Beyond the natural, physical toll of illness or an emergency, navigating the foreign and highly technical/specialized hospital environment can be overwhelming. This could include an inability to fully grasp technical medical direction or jargon, an unfamiliarity with the infrastructure of a hospital or treatment center, a feeling of insecurity with decisions that are being made, and more. Many patients don’t know what questions to ask and are not aware of the services and resources available to them.

Research has shown that informed, educated, and self-aware patients have more success with treatment than those who are not. Having the ability to make informed decisions, comfortably navigate the environment, and advocate for one’s self (or loved one), has been shown to have a positive impact on the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of the patient.

Patient Advocacy’s Response

  1. Engage patients and families in a positive manner, offering overall guidance as to the hospital process, direct assistance with anything in the hospital as well as publicize services available from the communal organizations.
  2. Be a continuous presence in the area hospitals, with a working understanding of the hierarchy and bureaucracy of each facility.
  3. Foster and nurture relationships with all levels of the staff of each facility with an understanding that everyone, from the janitor to the CEO, plays a role in the quality of care given to the patients.
  4. Maintain a working knowledge of area doctors, specialists and facilities’ specialties.
  5. Communicate with patients and families after services are rendered to gauge potential follow up needs.