Abstract The Consumer Advocacy Model Program (CAM) is a substance abuse program offered by the Substance Abuse Resources and Disabilities Issues program (SARDI) and the University Medical Services Association. It is a consumer-oriented program, with a team approach. This paper is an on-site evaluation and review of CAM. The paper argues that CAM does provide a valuable resource for the disabled population, but the success rate needs improvement before it can be called a viable treatment provider.
From the Paper "The person that I interviewed was Melissa Jones, CCDC-IIIE, clinical director at the program. Ms. Jones has a number of different certifications and professional qualifications, including a Masters of Rehabilitation Counseling (MRC). Program and Services Provided CAM is a consumer-oriented outpatient program that is also community based. According to the website, this program offers a large number of services to its clients, including "advocacy, support, case management, vocational services, and chemical dependency treatment for people with disabilities who are concurrently experiencing alcohol or other drug-use problems" (What is CAM?, 2003, par. 2)."
Abstract The paper relates that the Mount Sinai Medical Center Resource, Entitlement and Advocacy Program (REAP) is responsible for assisting patients in obtaining and maintaining healthcare access. The paper presents a case study of a woman referred to REAP that demonstrates the need for healthcare advocacy. The paper looks at the need for awareness and the importance of promoting the profession of healthcare advocacy.
Outline:
Mount Sinai Medical Center Resource, Entitlement and Advocacy Program (R.E.A.P.)
Case Study
Limited Healthcare Advocacy Strategies to Improve Access to Healthcare by Advocacy Conclusion
From the Paper "The healthcare system is difficult to navigate in the current managed care driven healthcare industry. In a healthcare system as large and complex as in the United States, patients are often unaware of the services that healthcare advocacy offer. Healthcare advocacy can be described as a safety net for patients who need quality healthcare but have the perception that help is not available. Healthcare advocacy can be found in a variety of settings, such as social services in long-term care centers and hospitals, nonprofit organizations such as the American Cancer Society, and private healthcare advocacy firms that charge a direct fee for services needed. Healthcare advocacy is a relatively new concept in patient services. According to Abigail Jefferies of the Healthcare Ledger, "The healthcare advocacy profession is unregulated and anyone can claim to be a healthcare advocate." (Jefferies 2008)"
Abstract This paper studies how advocacy has infiltrated the counseling profession and affected the practice of talk therapy. The paper first defines advocacy within the counseling field and then examines the findings of a number of studies into its efficacy and applicability. The paper also calls for a new model of advocacy, which includes community involvement and developmental advocacy to help strengthen counselor's ability to improve patient's outcome for the future. The paper calls on counselors to help clients amend the communities in which they live, so that the community in turn also supports itself and the counselor's potential clients.
Introduction
New Framework For Advocacy Research Supporting Premise
Conclusions
From the Paper "For one to promote a framework of advocacy in the counseling profession it is first important to understand what advocacy is. Home & Martin (1998) define advocacy as a method "based on the belief that individual or collective action must be taken to right injustices or improve conditions for the benefit of individuals or groups" (284). Lee (1998) also defines advocacy as "the process or act or arguing or pleading for a cause or proposal" (8). It requires that counselors take action. In recent years the issue of advocacy in counseling has drawn much attention. Much of this attention is meant to change the role of a counselor from a static to a functional agent responsible for changing any practices that might limit their client's opportunities for success (Lee, 2001). Many believe the idea of advocacy and the counseling profession is not compatible (Myers, Sweeney & White, 2002)."
Abstract The paper explains why advocacy is so vital for the counselling profession and illustrates this by listing effects that will arise if there is a lack of it, for example, there will be a reduction in effectiveness in the practice of the counselor and problems in the personal life of the individual. The paper explains the Masters-Level Counselor Education Program and how it may incorporate advocacy training into its curriculum and extra-curricular activities. The writer concludes that the counseling profession needs a more structured curriculum focused towards the establishment of a framework that integrates all aspects of the profession into one uniform standard for all to base their practice on.
Contents:
Objective
The Need for Advocacy Consequences of Insufficient Advocacy for the Counseling Profession
Masters-Level Counselor Education Program
Summary
From the Paper "The need for advocacy cannot be understated in relation to the provisions of such to the counseling profession. The stress that is inherent to this profession has many complicating factors when the factors and elements of the individual life and indeed the world at large are factored into the subject at hand. Stated in the work entitled: "Advocacy for Counseling and Counselors: A Professional Imperative" by Lee (1998) is that the definition of advocacy is defined as "the process or act of arguing or pleading for a cause or proposal (p.8). Within this context he recommended that counselors become agents of social change, intervening not just in the lives of their clients but in the world around them as well. It is a necessity that this type of advocacy be applied among professional counselors as a service to one another in combating the specific factors professional counselors may be subject to due to the nature of their work."
Abstract This paper explains that self-advocacy is the state of knowing what one wants, what one is entitled to, and how one can effectively craft a path that will lead one to accomplish one's own goals within the limitations of those entitlements. The author points out that the key to determining how well a student is serving as an advocate for himself or herself is first to understand the key dimensions that make up a person's ability to speak up for himself or herself and then to determine how to measure progress along each one of these vectors. The paper recommends that students who are learning to be an active part of the educational process and to serve as their own advocates should be able to demonstrate an increasing level of skill in areas such as communicating with others, identifying needed accommodations and supports, and expressing hopes and wants. Long quotes.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Literature Review
Importance and Limitations of IEPs
Parents as Advocates
Unity in the Face of a Common Enemy
Operationalizing Self-Advocacy And a Child Shall Lead
From the Paper "This is one of the key issues that must be addressed: How does one serve as the most effective advocate for oneself without infringing the rights of others? This is one of the most difficult tasks that those working with special needs children ? and especially teachers ? face. School districts are designed (both in terms of culture as well as in terms of their ability to serve children with a range of abilities on a limited budget) to force parents to become aggressive to secure rights for their children. And once they become so aggressive, they are unable to find their footing on the very narrow line between advocacy and belligerence."
Abstract This paper examines how accessibility and inclusion are primary issues of concerns for people with disabilities in our society. It discusses how given that increasingly our public spaces are actually private spaces accessed by the public for business and consumption, for example shopping malls or sports venues, it is clear that the implementation of greater accessibility and inclusion is complex and requires a critical analysis of a variety of competing agendas.
Abstract This paper explains the dire need within most underdeveloped nations for consumer protection and advocacy in the home ownership arena. The author points out that HADD Brazil will remain a consumer advocacy group and will work with local, state, federal, and international advocacy organizations and individuals to give redress to those individuals most in need of advocacy and assistance. The paper stresses that racial disparity among indigenous and immigrant societies within Brazil and extreme levels of environmental destruction have driven people from the rural areas into urban slums.
From the Paper "Collaboration with those successful housing advocacy organizations and institutions that already exist within the Brazilian culture will be the focus of the expansion. Yet, it is clear that simply handing over the donation to one successful organization would not meet the individualistic goals of HADD. HADD will establish a grass roots local organization through existing channels of organizations with hopes that the influence will stretch beyond those of existing resources and serve as a model for consumer advocacy groups already at work in Brazil to challenge the poor and substandard housing issues in the country."
Abstract This paper begins by explaining the profession of a social worker and then looks at what characteristics are necessary for one to become good at the profession. The writer lists good advocacy skills, understanding and compassion as some of the characteristics. It also explains that social workers need to keep on top of trends in their profession in order to adapt with the society they deal with.
Introduction
Good Social Workers Understand the Basics of their Profession
Good Social Workers Understand Advocacy Good Social Workers Understand the Need to Help Young People
Good Social Workers do their Research
Good Social Workers Stay Up-to-Date in their Profession
References
From the Paper "The CSCI's proposal calls for a CSCI "take over" of "the Independent (Panel) Stage of the complaints procedure from local authorities" which would, according to the BASW, "introduce a conflict with the regulatory and inspection roles of CSCI..." (Johnston, 2004). The impact of this proposal, if enacted, would be "increased delays" in the resolution of complaints and an "escalation in the number of complaints." Therefore, a good social worker should give input to this complaint revision procedure, since it may well affect every professional in the field at some point in time. Indeed, a good social worker is an investigator, and an avid reader, trying hard to keep abreast of all the issues surrounding the field. "
Abstract This paper addresses various aspects of Arkansas House Bill 1119 which bans gay adoption. Some of the aspects discussed include the history of the Bill, the at risk population and the people whose interests are served by this legislation. The paper also discusses the status of the Bill at the time the paper was written, why continuing advocacy is needed and evaluates the advocacy efforts to date.
Tags: Arkansas, House bill, anti-gay, gay rights, foster care, adoption, cohabitation, discrimination, advocacy
From the Paper "Television is a mass medium with a particularly intrusive personality. It comes into the home and changes the lives of the people viewing it, changing the way they live, the activities in which they engage, and the products they buy. Children watch a great deal of television, and they are affected by what they watch. Since the 1950s, various controversies have swirled around television, from the quiz show scandals to the recent flap over NBC setting fire to GM trucks to show how dangerous they were. Television has become the target of a number of advocacy groups which see how important a role television plays and believe that television as present constituted is not fulfilling its role. The power of these groups varies greatly, and, with new technologies altering how television is received in the home, these groups have found all the more reason to protest what they..."
This paper is an experiment to assess the type of learner who suffers from test taking anxiety, a common problem at many levels of educational development.
Abstract This paper explains that the learner needs to be taught to have
less stress and anxiety when taking a test; therefore, this project will be presented in the context of participants who may show signs of test taking anxiety as measured through a survey. The author points out that, in terms of teaching objectives, there are three main objectives leading to the goal of reducing test taking anxiety, which will be addressed by the survey: Increased awareness of stress relief in relation to test anxiety, the ability to gather information on study and test-taking techniques and the advocacy of better organizational and self-management strategies for students. This paper includes the complete questionnaires to be used for assessment and the results of the individual evaluations.
Table of Contents
Report
Assessing Learning Needs
Plan
Content
Teaching Strategies
Evaluation Tool
Self Evaluation Tool
Evaluation of Participants
From the Paper "One goal given the limitations of the current project would be to administer a questionnaire that assesses how students use study and motivational techniques to prepare for tests and how these relate to anxiety. "The advantages of a self-administered questionnaire over an interview survey are economy, speed, lack of interviewer bias, and the possibility of anonymity and privacy to encourage more candid responses on sensitive issues." On the other hand, there are also distinct advantages to the interview conducted with the student, since it also affords anonymity and privacy while simultaneously reducing the amount of confusion often attendant upon a questionnaire."
Abstract This paper examines various controversial issues and the role non-profit organizations played in their advocacy. A discussion of moral obligation to help the less fortunate is presented, followed by a listing of various issues. Additionally, the role of the non-profits for bringing these issues into the forefront of contemporary awareness is debated.
Introduction
The NGO Controversy
References/Bibliography
From the Paper "All major religions of the world implore their followers to help in reducing human suffering. The world has come a long way from the injustices of the past. Slavery, apartheid, racial discrimination would still be in practice if free and conscientious people had not taken up these causes and had not become 'mouthpiece' for the sufferers of these indignities. The racist government of South Africa had to agree to an end to apartheid due to the economic sanctions [4] against the regime. Racial discrimination in United States, the country that proclaims that all men are born equal, required Martin Luther King [5] and his black and white followers to launch a campaign against this social ill. "
Abstract This paper explains that the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) is an advocacy group, which works to protect the interests of impoverished and working class individuals in Ontario. The author points out that, through direct action and casework, OCAP helps many poor people. The paper relates the reasons why people would want to work for OCAP.
From the Paper "The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) is an advocacy group that works to protect the interests of impoverished and or working class individuals in Ontario. According to Jeff Shantz in Fighting to Win, The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) is a direct action anti-poverty organization which, since 1989, has fought governments of all stripes in Ontario, left (so-called), right and centre to defend the needs of poor people and to work for a future where people are able to live decently (Shantz 2002: 1). Although this mission statement seems to be relatively straightforward the reality of the situation needs to be explained in detail."
Abstract The Sequoia Community Health Foundation is an organization that began as an advocacy group for farm workers in Fresno, California. Within two years the organization evolved into a functional health care center, treating farm workers and their families in the Fresno area. Since this time the Sequoia Community Health Foundation has expanded repeatedly in answer to the growing population in the area. Currently the organization serves families and individuals that are comprised of approximately 93% of patients that are either uninsured, under-insured or rely on the California Medicaid program to assist with medical expenses. This paper provides a risk analysis of this organization in relation to a projected 2-3% increase of the uninsured/under-insured population it would serve over the next five years, suggesting that the risk increase would not be significant.
Abstract The paper discusses end-of-life decisions, advance directives and patient advocacy that are issues within the scope of the health care social worker. The paper shows how the complexity of legal and medical issues involved in the creation of a living will and/or providing surrogate instructions is beyond the medical or legal training of the social worker.
From the Paper "A social worker acts as a patient advocate. Social workers are charged with promoting patient respect and respect in treatment in end-of-life situations. The National Association of Social Workers was one of the first professional organizations to actively participate in support of the ethical dilemmas inherent in caring for individuals during end of life circumstances by issuing the formal policy statement "Client Self-Determination in End-of-Life Decisions in 1993 (Luptak, 2004). In the area of living wills, the social worker should only be part of a team that can help you address end-of-life issues and decisions and the member of the team to assure that other healthcare providers such as doctors and other facility staff know of your decisions ("How social workers," 2004). In the health care social worker's job, no task is more important than advocating for patients' wishes in end of life decisions."
