Posts Tagged politics
Become Your Own Healthcare Advocate
We know that in politics lobbyists hope to have influence on important political decisions. They are advocates for their specific causes. They are respected for their expertise and they keep focused on getting the results they desire. Wouldn’t you assume the same is true when applying the analogy to your own healthcare? When diagnosed with a chronic or life-threatening illness it’s important for you or a care partner to become knowledgeable about advocating for the best outcome from treatment.
Be Intelligent
No one expects you to take a crash medical school course after being diagnosed with an illness. It’s not necessary that you understand anatomy and physiology or cell biology. It is important that you know how your own body works. What are the unique features of your body? What illnesses and injuries have you had? What medications are you allergic to? How do you respond to medication? It’s also important that you have at least a basic understanding of your diagnosis. You should know the actual diagnosis and all its particulars. If your specific disease has stages, phases or degrees, know where you are on the continuum. Do enough research so that you aren’t buried in information on your first doctor’s visit.
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Internet, Politics and Advocacy Campaign
Online political advocacy campaign has transformed electoral politics. By lowering the financial barriers setting aside traditional grassroots tactics and community strategies to enter into the national political election debate, the Internet has energized activists and given rise to new voices and new forms of news and commentary. While the Internet has become an integral part of campaign infrastructure, it has also spawned the rise of bloggers and other alternative media, empowering thousands of new political actors and providing an important antidote to years of declining civic participation. In the last election, there was also a record number of small online donors to political campaigns, diluting but not eliminating the influence of big money in politics.
Unlike a highly centralized “one to many” traditional media platform namely grassroots tactics and community strategies – which limited political speech to those who could afford expensive television and newspaper ads – the Internet’s decentralized “many to many” platform permits anyone to communicate with millions at little or no cost through free web hosting and blogging services and hundreds of online forums. According to a Pew/Internet report, 75 million Americans used the Internet during the 2004 election to get news, discuss issues and candidates, and participate through volunteering for or donating to campaigns, a significant increase from 2002. There is every reason to believe that these numbers will continue to grow dramatically.
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