To better illuminate the elements of an effective community response to domestic violence, this study examined how survivors prioritized their help-seeking activities and what their priorities revealed about their patterns of need. This study expanded on Sullivan and Bybee’s findings regarding the utility of community-based advocacy by examining whether the extent to which such advocacy was eff...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To explore ovarian cancer survivors' experiences of self-advocacy in symptom management. RESEARCH APPROACH Descriptive, qualitative. SETTING A public café in an urban setting. PARTICIPANTS 13 ovarian cancer survivors aged 26-69 years with a mean age of 51.31. METHODOLOGIC APPROACH Five focus groups were formed. Focus group discussions were audio recorded and transcrib...

Drawing on a national study of independent mental health advocacy, we explored the social relations of independent advocacy. The study was commissioned by the Department of Health (England), and involved a case study design covering eight different geographies and service configurations, and interviews or focus groups with a total of 289 stakeholders across two phases of inquiry. This paper foc...

My purpose in this paper is to describe the self-reported training needs and training information of advisors to self-advocacy groups for people with mental retardation. A telephone survey was administered to 118 advisors randomly selected, resulting in 90 completed surveys and a response rate of 76%. Major findings are reported in training topics, preferred training formats, hours and frequenc...

Children and youth with special health care needs require more health care and related services and consequently incur more costs than other individuals. Implementation of the "medical home" concept has benefitted children with special needs, resulting in fewer unmet medical needs and more consistent health care delivery. As advances in health care have enabled an increasingly higher percentage...

This paper, in exploring both the debate and practice of advocacy, uses the National Health and Disability Advocacy Service in New Zealand to describe a successful model of advocacy that is based on the concept of empowerment practiced in an independent environment and strengthened by an enforceable framework of consumer rights.