Supporting Patients and Caregivers
Find help here.
Books for Patients
I’ve written two books to empower you to help you help yourself:
- You Bet Your Life! The 10 Mistakes Every Patient Makes (How to Fix Them to Get the Healthcare You Deserve)
- You Bet Your Life! The Top 10 Reasons You Need a Professional Patient Advocate by Your Side
Learn more about both books written for patients and caregivers, including links to purchase (or get one of them for free!)
Professional Advocates Can Help Patients
In 2009, I started an organization to teach patient advocates how to best support patients like you who need help. Today it is the largest such organization in the world, supporting and educating professional health and patient advocates to do what needs to be done to help you.
Whether you have scary symptoms, need a second opinion, an over-the-top medical bill – or anything in between – a professional advocate can help you.
- Check out The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates
- Find help from a professional health or patient advocate in the AdvoConnection Directory (soon to be Umbra Health Advocacy.)
Articles, Podcasts, and Blog Posts for Patients
I’ve written thousands of articles and blog posts since 2005 to help individuals with specific information needs.
My first newspaper column, written for the Syracuse Post Standard, was published for six years. (Cool factoid: I was the third generation in my family to write for the Post Standard!) The articles covered dozens of “how-tos” for being a smart patient. Find them here.
In addition, I was the first-ever host for a local radio show in Syracuse, NY, called HealthLink on Air. From 2006 to 2011, I interviewed 5-6 medical professionals weekly covering dozens of topics, mostly diagnoses and treatments, all from a patient’s point-of-view. The education I received from those interviews was life-changing.
From 2007 to 2014, I was the Patient Empowerment Expert Guide for About.com, which is now called Very Well Health. During that time I wrote almost 2,000 articles and blog posts on every advocacy and patient empowerment topic imaginable. Many of those articles are still online and can be found here.
Next Avenue is a website published by NPR offering interesting articles and advice to the Over-50 crowd. While I did not write extensively for Next Avenue, you can find the articles I wrote here.
Blog posts… too many to count! Find posts in two locations:
- Originally published at AdvoConnection.com, these posts with advice for patients and caregivers were moved to Umbra Health Advocacy in early 2023. Find plenty of how-tos, advice, and resources here.
- My original blog, begun in 2005 as I maneuvered my way through the aftermath of my misdiagnosis, the original Every Patient’s Advocate blog posts can be found archived here.
Personal Help for Patients and Caregivers
If you need individual help, please know that I cannot advocate for you myself. However, I may be able to provide resources to you or send you to someone who can help.
The easiest way to get in touch is to reach out on Facebook:
- FaceBook
Please note: I don’t check Facebook every day, but I will usually reply to you within 2 business days. If I am traveling, it may take more than a week before you hear from me since I may be out of the country.
If your need is more urgent, please contact an advocate from the link above.
