The roles of both the consumer and the health advocate professional have
become increasingly significant in to- day's climate of "rationed"
health care. It seems clear that the timely exchange of ideas among
seasoned health care advocates is necessary if we are to deal with the
complex problems of a technologically advanced so- ciety seeking to
ration its heath care in a truly humane way. Toward such a timely
exchange, the first Confer- ence on Advocacy in Health Care was
organized by the Health Advocacy Program of Sarah Lawrence College and
recently held. Advocacy in Health Care: The Power of a Silent
Constituency is the proceedings of the conference and will, we believe,
greatly extend our efforts to share both the problems and solutions that
effective patient advocacy entails. Never before has the issue of
advocating for special population groups by combining the resources of
consumers and professionals been the exclusive focus of one volume. This
book discusses the power of such an alignment and describes specific
organizational techniques that have been effective in bringing about
changes in the delivery system. The final section of the book,
"Questions, Com- ments and Answers," presents a selection of topics of
special interest that surfaced during the open disc- vii viii Preface
sion at the last conference session. The comments were forthright in
their criticism of public policy, and the vigor of the argument
underscored the vitality of the co- alition between professionals and
consumers.
