Often, patients undergoing treatment for their disease don’t feel enough support from their doctors or caregivers. In addition to that, some patients even don’t have family members or friends to rely on for help. In this situation, where can the patient find the support they need? Thankfully, there are patient advocacy and support groups that can help those who are in need.
What Are Patient Advocacy and Support Groups?
Patient advocacy and support groups (PASG) aim to support patients and caregivers through scheduled activities, guidance for the patient’s disorders, and awareness of the disease. They are organized nonprofit groups that direct their human resources to improve patients’ and caregivers’ overall well-being. Furthermore, patient advocacy and support groups also educate family members about their affected family’s disease. They teach three things:
- How to properly take care of the patient.
- What the patient is experiencing.
- What to expect about their future.
How Patient Advocacy and Support Groups Help Hospitals
While helping patients, patient advocacy and support groups also work hand in hand with the healthcare industry to enhance patient-doctor relationships. With PASG’s help, doctors will have a renowned perspective on assisting patients with varying diseases.
Furthermore, patient advocacy and support groups give hospitals direct access to patients’ complaints about the treatment. And lastly, with paid market research study opportunities, the healthcare industry can gather more data for the disease’s medical research.
The Main Tasks of Patient Advocacy and Support Groups
They Help Spearhead Activities for A Specific Disease
All support groups supervise activities for patients and their families to increase bonding. In addition to that, here are other ways they also create activities that help patients:
- Support groups create social events between affected families. This activity helps provide emotional support from families who are going through the same predicament as the patient. Furthermore, this event is open to everyone affected by the disease, regardless of age and race.
- Support groups educate everyone willing to learn. This activity aims to give out all available information to people who also want to help patients. By creating a safe space to educate freely, people, patients, and affected family members will know how to cope better through treatment.
They Support Patients in Need
All patient advocacy and support groups have one primary mission to complete: helping those in need. Whether it’s a support group for cancer patients or Alcoholics Anonymous, all their goals are geared toward aiding patients. Patient support groups help patients in need by establishing a secure and encouraging environment that doesn’t judge anyone’s experience and advice. After all, being comfortable in the group is the most crucial aspect that patients are looking for.
In addition to that, patient advocacy and support groups provide easy-to-access websites and phone services for people who can’t attend physically. Through this, patients can ask for help no matter where they are or what the time is.
They Create Awareness
Generating awareness to the public is one of the vital aspects of patient advocacy and support groups. The group represents the ideas of all the group’s members to the public. Thankfully, advocacy for multiple diseases has risen, and many are known worldwide. Patient advocacy groups fight for awareness through campaigns and advertisements through the mediums of social media and community events.
Furthermore, some advocacy groups rally their workforce to help doctors research new therapies to help patients in need. Most of the time, the organization will create a petition to develop new treatment by gathering patients willing to participate in new medications.
How Patient Advocacy and Support Groups Help a Patient’s Well-being
Patients in a support group often have the same worries in mind when joining. They might be scared of people judging them; they might feel nervous from meeting strangers or be afraid of people dismissing their disease as nothing. Thankfully, participating in a support group provides a multitude of positive side effects. Some of these are:
- Having more time spending the day with others rather than being alone.
- Being more determined in getting proper treatment.
- Increasing morale and hope.
- Being more optimistic of future outcomes.
- Talking about their experiences without the fear of being judged.
- Getting firsthand experience from other patients who have received treatment.
- Lessening stress and anxiety caused by the disease or disorder. And;
- Learning more about the condition they are going through.
Joining a support group helps both the patients and affected family members. Patient advocacy and support groups help everyone, not only affected patients but also people who are willing to learn. And lastly, actively engaging in group therapy brings people undergoing the same circumstances together.