How do you fix healthcare gaps that hurt patients?

1 Understand the root causes

The first step to fixing healthcare gaps is to understand the root causes and how they affect your clients. For example, some patients may face financial, geographic, or cultural obstacles to accessing care, while others may experience discrimination, stigma, or mistrust from providers. You can use tools such as health equity assessments, social needs screenings, or patient surveys to gather data and insights on the factors that contribute to healthcare gaps. By understanding the root causes, you can tailor your advocacy strategies and interventions accordingly.

2 Educate and empower your clients

The second step to fixing healthcare gaps is to educate and empower your clients to become active participants in their own care. You can help them understand their rights, options, and responsibilities as patients, and provide them with reliable information and resources to make informed decisions. You can also teach them how to communicate effectively with their providers, ask questions, voice their concerns, and seek a second opinion if needed. By educating and empowering your clients, you can help them overcome fear, confusion, or hesitation, and increase their confidence and satisfaction with their care.

4 Address social determinants of health

The fourth step to fixing healthcare gaps is to address the social determinants of health that affect your clients' well-being and health outcomes. These are the conditions in which your clients live, work, learn, and play, such as income, education, housing, transportation, food security, or social support. You can help your clients access and utilize the social services and programs that can improve their living conditions and reduce their health risks. You can also partner with community organizations, policy makers, or other stakeholders to advocate for changes that can eliminate or reduce the social determinants of health that create healthcare gaps.

5 Evaluate and improve your advocacy practices

The fifth step to fixing healthcare gaps is to evaluate and improve your advocacy practices and outcomes. You can use tools such as feedback forms, quality indicators, or outcome measures to assess the effectiveness and impact of your advocacy efforts. You can also seek feedback from your clients, providers, or colleagues to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your advocacy skills and strategies. By evaluating and improving your advocacy practices, you can ensure that you are providing the best possible service to your clients and contributing to the reduction of healthcare gaps.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?