A health advocate is a support person you choose to assist you with health care visits, asking questions, getting information, and accessing services.
Tips & Links
- A health advocate is part of your care partners’ network. They can be a family member, friend, neighbour, co-worker, or a hired professional who can ask questions, write down information, and speak up for you so you can better understand your health conditions and get the care and resources you need.
- Choose ways you want your health advocate to help: for example, they may drive and accompany you to physician and health visits, help you complete your health profile and keep it up to date, visit you at home, remind you to take medications, help with meal support, and/or do safety checks in your home.
- Know that a health advocate is not recognized as having an official role in the health care system but can be invaluable in providing support.
- Review the health care visit checklist created by Healthlink BC.
- Your health advocate may also be one of your emergency contacts and/or your temporary substitute decision-maker (TSDM) or your substitute decision-maker (SDM).
Tools – Handouts & Videos
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