Trisha Torrey

Simon and Garfunkel – an Anthem to Advocacy

OK, yes, I’m dating myself… One of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs is Bridge Over Troubled Water. I’ve been humming it repeatedly over the last few weeks, and last week, we let the advocacy world know why.

When you’re down and out
When you’re on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you (ooo)
I’ll take your part, oh, when darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

The lyrics – are like an anthem about advocacy, aren’t they? The idea that one person can help another person by creating a bridge over the problems, to make the path to the other side smoother. It’s the work advocates do every day, proudly, passionately, and most often with incredibly positive results.

Beyond the lyrics, the metaphorical bridge goes even further, which is what has prompted the song to run through my head most recently.

So – what happened last week?

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29
APR

advocacy business, advocacy certification, advocacy ethics, advocate education, allegiance, client services, common sense, health advocates and navigators, media, patient advocacy, professional standards

ICOPA

Assessing Value: The Cost of Meat and Potatoes

Posted by: Trisha Torrey

An Open Letter to an Advocate Who Questions Her APHA Membership

Received last week from Esther (not her real name):

If you would please clarify a few things I’d really appreciate it.It’s time for my PACE membership to renew and I am trying to decide whether to spend that money.
I want to have my name listed in your directory in the future, but your Premium membership is quite out of my budget. . Do you not offer beginner discounts?
Secondly, I currently am an unemployed family caregiver and have no income. A basic renewal at $49, which is more in my budget, is only for 6 months time, why not a full year? And it really lacks access to the meat and potatoes of your site which would most benefit me starting out in this line of service.
So as you may have gathered, I’m at a crossroads for renewing at this point in time. I’m trying to understand the real value in APHA membership for me. Perhaps you have other financial options for people in my situation?
I do look forward to hearing from you.

My reply to Esther:

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15
APR

advocacy business, advocate education, advocate finances, common sense, decision making, money

Atychi-what? Overcoming Atychiphobia

Posted by: Trisha Torrey

Over the years, dozens of professional advocate wannabes have talked to me about fear, including

Fear of failure
Fear of doing the wrong thing for a client
Fear of failure
Fear of losing their savings
Fear of failure
Fear of making a mistake in their work
Fear of failure
Fear of standing up to authority
Fear of failure

If your fears stand in the way of your success, then you have only two choices:

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1
APR

advocacy business, advocate best practices, advocate finances, advocate marketing, client services, common sense, decision making, health advocates and navigators, money, patient advocacy

Starting Out? Why a Non-Profit Practice Is NOT the Right Answer for You

Posted by: Trisha Torrey

This is a question – or a statement – I hear frequently from those who wish to be independent health or patient advocates who are considering which business formation they need to set up to be independent.*

After considerations of LLCs, or S-Corps or others, they tell me they want to establish a non-profit, then ask me if we offer resources to help them.

Fay is one such advocate wannabe. She asked, “Do you have any advice for establishing a non-profit or not-for-profit agency to help patients?”

Unfortunately, her question was being asked for the wrong reasons.

Why?

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18
MAR

advocacy business, advocate bad practices, advocate finances, client services, common sense, decision making, money, patient advocacy, patients, Start and Grow a Private Advocacy Practice

non-profit, not-for-profit

How Does a Patient Choose the Best Advocate to Hire?

Posted by: Trisha Torrey

I’ve been working on updating the AdvoConnection Directory website because it was time, because search engines look favorably upon updates. And because my not-frequent-enough review of the site’s analytics produced a big surprise!

A surprise I’ll share with you here today.

To be clear – no changes were made to the actual search and profile areas – those all belong to our listed advocates who make those changes themselves.

Instead, I edited and updated the support pages – everything from the homepage to the About Us page to the “how to choose and interview an advocate” page.

For some background: I monitor and track the advocate listing pages diligently (and encourage our listed members to monitor their own – we provide them with stats each month.) I know people are finding our advocates in the Directory in HUGE numbers (examples: 16,000+ in January and 15,500+ in February, a shorter month, of course).

However – true confessions here – as in “do as I say, and not as I do” – I rarely look at the analytics on the basic site pages.Just not something I make time for… although as I learned this week – I should! Because I was actually very surprised by what I learned.

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4
MAR

advocacy business, advocate best practices, advocate finances, advocate marketing, caregivers, client services, common sense, decision making, health advocates and navigators, money, patient advocacy