What are your patient advocacy outcomes?

1 Define your outcomes

Outcomes are the changes or benefits that result from your patient advocacy activities. They can be short-term, intermediate, or long-term, and they can be qualitative or quantitative. For example, a short-term outcome could be that your client feels more confident and informed about their diagnosis and treatment options. An intermediate outcome could be that your client receives a timely referral to a specialist or a second opinion. A long-term outcome could be that your client improves their health status or quality of life. Qualitative outcomes can be captured by feedback, testimonials, or stories from your clients or other stakeholders. Quantitative outcomes can be measured by indicators, such as the number of clients served, the satisfaction rate, the cost savings, or the health outcomes.

2 Align your outcomes with your mission

Your patient advocacy outcomes should reflect your mission and vision as a patient advocate. What is the purpose and value of your work? Who are you serving and why? How do you want to make a difference in the health care system and in the lives of your clients? Your mission and vision can help you identify and prioritize your outcomes, as well as communicate them to others. For example, if your mission is to empower patients with chronic conditions to self-manage their care, your outcomes could include increased knowledge, skills, and confidence among your clients, as well as improved adherence, self-efficacy, and well-being.

3 Plan your outcomes evaluation

To assess your patient advocacy outcomes, you need to plan your evaluation strategy and methods. This involves defining your evaluation questions, choosing your data sources and tools, collecting and analyzing your data, and reporting and sharing your findings. Your evaluation plan should be realistic, feasible, and ethical, and it should align with your resources, timeline, and stakeholder expectations. For example, you may use surveys, interviews, focus groups, or case studies to collect data from your clients or other relevant parties, such as health care providers, family members, or policy makers. You may use descriptive or inferential statistics, thematic analysis, or narrative analysis to interpret your data and draw conclusions.

5 Share your outcomes with others

Your patient advocacy outcomes are valuable not only for yourself, but also for others who may benefit from your work or learn from your experience. By sharing your outcomes with others, you can raise awareness and visibility of your role and profession, as well as the issues and needs of your clients and the health care system. You can also inspire and influence others to join or support your cause, or to collaborate or partner with you on common goals. You can share your outcomes with others through various channels and formats, such as reports, presentations, newsletters, blogs, podcasts, or social media.

6 Celebrate your outcomes

Your patient advocacy outcomes are a testament to your dedication and contribution to improving health care quality and equity for your clients and the society. They are also a source of motivation and satisfaction for yourself and your team. Therefore, you should celebrate your outcomes and acknowledge your efforts and achievements. You can celebrate your outcomes by rewarding yourself or your team with something meaningful or enjoyable, by expressing gratitude to those who helped or supported you along the way, or by reflecting on what you learned and how you grew as a patient advocate.