What is your role as an advocate for your target population for this healthcare program? Do you have input into design decisions? How else do you impact design?

Information is a key resource for advocates; they need to have facts about the program and how it addresses the children’s special needs. Typically, the advocate is responsible for knowing the when, how, who and where about the program; documenting the information and using them as references during the program design process. Similarly, the advocate must be extremely aware of the special needs involved, including the relevant federal laws so that they can inform the program design process form a legal standpoint. 

The advocate is also responsible for liaison between parents and the service providers. They are responsible for ensuring that there is a good relationship between the caregivers and the parents because sometimes it is easier for the two set of individuals to fall into a blame game whenever something is not right. Therefore, it is the advocate’s role to ensure that the disappointments and bureaucracies involved in the program does not impede the relationship between the program managers, caregivers and parents. They are the program’s vision keepers and are responsible for advocating for meeting the kid’s needs regardless of the bureaucracies involved.