The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates

Aha! Finding Great Ideas to Inspire Your Practice

aha moment

At least a half dozen times in the past few weeks I’ve been asked what it was that compelled me to start The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates, and the AdvoConnection Directory. It occurs to me that even if you are a member, you may not know the story, or, even more importantly, how it can affect the work you do, too. The story is a classic “aha!” moment story – using experiences to identify a way forward – in this case, starting a new service and business. Some of you know that my two early careers were first, classroom …

Aha! Finding Great Ideas to Inspire Your Practice Continue Reading

What Exactly is Independent Patient Advocacy? (Curious Minds Want to Know!)

reading CSA article

This post will be short(er) and sweet(er)than usual – because your time will be better spent reading something else – linked below. And here’s why: You may be familiar with CSA: The Society of Certified Senior Advisors. It’s a wonderful organization that not only teaches professionals the best practices of working with older adults, but then provides ongoing certification and education to be sure they stay current. APHA and CSA have been aligned and affiliated for more than a decade. (Not familiar? Learn more: www.CSA.us ) CSA publishes a print journal once per quarter – an award-winning journal of excellent, …

What Exactly is Independent Patient Advocacy? (Curious Minds Want to Know!) Continue Reading

Successes, Failures, and My Biggest Surprise

12 years. While on the one hand, 12 years seems like a looong time, on the other hand, it has gone by in the blink of an eye. I’m referring to the 12 years I’ve focused my professional life on building the profession of independent health and patient advocacy, having made the decision in 2007 to begin building an online presence for advocates through the AdvoConnection Directory website. It eventually launched in Fall 2009* and evolved to become The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates. So I’ve been giving thought to what I consider to be our biggest successes, biggest failures, …

Successes, Failures, and My Biggest Surprise Continue Reading

Independent Advocacy’s Three-Legged Stool of Success

In response to one of the most frequently asked questions I get as the director of The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates – I might be providing an answer you don’t expect. That’s OK! Because if you don’t expect it, then you may hear it even more clearly than you otherwise would. And that can only be good. I hear the basic questions in a number of formats: Do I need to get a degree or certificate to be a patient advocate? Followed by, “what degree?” or “what courses do I need to take?” Do I need to be certified …

Independent Advocacy’s Three-Legged Stool of Success Continue Reading

When Life Defies Logic

…then it’s time to get logical. And logic will triumph! As many readers know, I’m in the process of coordinating our APHA Summits. We had our first Summit adventure in San Diego a few weeks ago. What a delight! We all learned so much from each other! Next up… Newark / NYC, then on to Chicago, and two new groups of passionate advocates. (I can’t wait!) What few people understand is the amount of preparation required to make these Summits happen. It’s not so simple as everyone showing up in the same place at the same time to connect with …

When Life Defies Logic Continue Reading

Direct to Patients: Frank, Honest, and Motivational

In Marketing 101, we learn that we learn that it is imperative to accurately identify our target audiences, then , then develop motivational messages for them about the benefits of working with us. Find the right people. Share the right messages. The blog you’re reading right now does just that: it speaks to advocates and care managers (you! – the right people – our target audience of advocates, care managers, and those who wish to join our profession) to teach them something about their work, and to help them understand the benefits of connection with The Alliance of Professional Health …

Direct to Patients: Frank, Honest, and Motivational Continue Reading

Hey Little Girls: Yes, Women Can Be Brilliant!

(To my gentleman readers – please pardon this week’s post. You are more than welcome to read it, of course, and there will be advantages to doing so, but it’s really aimed at the females among us. That will make sense momentarily.) This week’s post comes as a result of three experiences from the past few weeks, all reminders of the necessity of tooting one’s own horn. We’ll set the stage with one of those experiences; that is, publication this week by the AP of this article Little girls doubt that women can be brilliant, study shows Now, I’m a …

Hey Little Girls: Yes, Women Can Be Brilliant! Continue Reading

APHA Blog : The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates
Scroll to Top