Riding the Cancer Coaster: Survival Guide for Teens And Young Adults
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Photos
  • The Book
    • Paperback
    • eBook
  • Resources
  • My Other Publications

Self-Advocacy

3/8/2017

0 Comments

 
In a post for Cancer Knowledge Network that I wrote back in November, I talked about the challenges involved in the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare, and the need for more support and education to be provided to teens and young adults to be able to successfully get through this transition. In the last couple of months, I have gotten to wondering what, above all other obstacles, is the most important thing to help get young people to feel comfortable taking charge of their own care? After talking with some other young adult cancer survivor friends, and some friends of mine who have chronic illnesses, one topic repeatedly came up in the discussion about transitioning to adult healthcare: self-advocacy.
 
So, what exactly is self-advocacy?
 
According to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, self-advocacy means: “…You arm yourself with the tools and skills necessary to feel comfortable about asserting yourself and communicating clearly about your cancer care needs.” They also summarize that the skills necessary for self-advocacy include: information seeking skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills, and negotiation skills. 

Through further research, I also found that perspective can play a role in enabling or disabling you from successfully advocating for yourself. I came upon an article about self-advocacy by a psychologist, who is herself a cancer survivor, in the online magazine Psychology Today.  One statement she made that really stood out to me said that many patients “…may find it difficult to question someone they perceive as authority figures who control their destiny. They may fear asking “dumb” questions or alienating their doctors by questioning them.” This highlights a perspective that I know, from my own experience, seems to be at the heart of helping teens and young adults become self-advocates: learning that your doctors are not controlling authority figures and that there are no “dumb” questions.
 
To summarize, it seems there are 3 crucial pieces to this self-advocacy puzzle: (1) Developing a range of skills that enable you to feel confident in your ability to clearly communicate your needs, (2) recognizing that your doctors are not authority figures with control over your future, and (3) it’s your body and your health, so you are entitled to ask any question at all – there is no such thing as a “dumb” question.
 
Seeing as this is a pretty complicated puzzle, I thought I’d take some time to break it down. In my next few posts, I’ll cover each of these puzzle pieces, to try to make it easier for teenage and young adult cancer patients or survivors to piece together the necessities for becoming self-advocates.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2021
    April 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012

    Categories

    All
    Cancer
    Coping
    Emotions
    Food
    Teen

    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    To subscribe to my blog, click RSS Feed above.  If you are using Google Chrome, click here and add the RSS subscription extension (by Google) in order to be able to subscribe to my blog!  
    View my profile on LinkedIn
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Jan Kraus, symphony of love, Cristian V., thinboyfatter, YoTuT, Adikos, durdaneta, braerik, WalkingGeek, tlindenbaum