Patient Advocacy Starts From Within
The National Safety Council reports that a workplace injury happens every seven seconds, totaling over 12,000 injuries each day. These incidents can be severe, resulting in time away from work, medical care, and long-term disabilities. If you’ve faced an accident or injury, whether at work, home, or elsewhere, you may be feeling hurt and uncertain about what to do next. While the past cannot be changed, you might be wondering what steps you can take now and who can best assist you with your future.
What is an advocate? An advocate is a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy:
Example: "She has been a tireless advocate for women's organizations and causes."
When it comes to your recovery, you will be supported along the way and provided valuable resources from patient advocates. While this support and guidance is helpful, it’s good practice to also become your own advocate when it comes to your optimal recovery. After all, nobody knows what you are experiencing better than the person staring back at you in the mirror.
For starters, being your own advocate may allow you to better come to terms with some common realities post injury:
• The accident may not have been your fault, but you are hurt and now you may feel stuck. Let's try to find the lesson in the experience, because while you are not responsible for the accident/trauma, you are accountable/responsible for your healing.
• In most cases these situations place us in a “fight or flight” place in our mind, body and spirit. This is a normal response for a type of event that may bring on symptoms of PTSD, psychological, physical and or emotional trauma; but you must not and cannot stay in that dark place because it only leads to more pain and suffering.
• It’s okay to process all the emotions that this experience causes along the way: maybe anger, resentment, depression, anxiety, but you don’t want to stay there. A normal emotional response lasts about 90 seconds, according to medical professionals.
• Accept that you are experiencing a Life Transition. One of many as you can imagine. You have been here before and are strong enough for this experience too. Let’s not fear the experience but let's have enough courage to face the situation, create a plan and learn from it.
• There is no manual for going through this Life Transition because it’s deeply personal and completely different for everyone.
• It affects not just you, but those around you like family and other loved ones.
• It doesn’t mean the experience was okay, fair, minor or something you just get over. It completely changed your life. You are experiencing a life transition that challenges your mind, body and spirit (whole person). Maybe like never before.
• What life will I have now? What job can I do? How will I support my family? How will I get back to normal? What are my limitations? These are just some of the questions that you may be asking yourself now.
So now that you’ve come to an acceptance of some of these realities, what can you do next?
• The First Step, and it might be the most important step, is radical acceptance without any blame. You got hurt or injured and that’s what happened. It might not be fair or just, but it happened and now you must move towards healing in all its forms. Attempting to place blame, creating a victimhood mentality will sabotage your attempts to get better.
• Create a plan for getting help and do the research. This might involve hiring a lawyer, seeing a doctor, meeting with a counselor, clergy or mental health professionals. Remember, the road to recovery may be long and winding but you don’t have to travel it alone. Getting down that road requires your commitment, self-advocacy, and belief in yourself to see it to the end.
• Create a list of questions and concerns before attending any form of appointment with any professional. Once there, write everything down. Don’t make any assumptions about your experience because everything matters from that moment on and even small notes matter.
• Be ready to accept and respond to the help and support provided. This can be via doctor, therapist, psychiatrist, educational providers, life coach, clergy etc. Rely on licensed, experienced, and well-regarded professionals. Finding the Right-Help is critical.
• Make connections through support groups. Find other like-minded individuals. People that have gone through similar things can add value to you, and you to them.
• Just because you’re collaborating with professionals from various fields doesn’t mean they have all the answers for your situation. It’s important to remember that you may need to change providers or seek additional expertise to ensure that your questions are fully addressed. Always ask questions – don’t accept anything at face value. This is your life, and it’s crucial that you feel supported and whole, as everything is at stake.
• Be sure to write everything down, create a timeline of the events from the accident through the present moment and everything that you are experiencing in a notebook. Documenting symptoms and side effects of your accident is critical to the process.
• Practice Self Care (Boundaries) – Find ways to reduce stresses in your life. Find ways to create new behaviors where you come first in your life and no longer take a back seat to others and their needs.
• Take Breaks from Life and People – If certain situations, people, activities or relationships are not adding value to your life, you can push the pause button. Look to modify those experiences and maybe replace them if necessary. Remember, it’s okay ”not to be ok” and give yourself some extra grace during this time.
When you decide to take charge of your recovery plans, you are putting yourself back in the driver’s seat. You may be surprised at the level of support you have access to, but it will only be effective if you are ready to embrace it. That starts with you, your positive disposition, and committing yourself to seeing the entire process through. Hopefully these techniques and strategies about self-advocacy will help you get across the finish line faster and make a full recovery.