Advocacy in Neurology

Book excerpt: Advocacy is a broad term that covers activities aimed at increasing attention, awareness, information, nursing, treatment, and support to improve the outcome of patients. These actions can be focused directly towards patients or indirectly via third parties. Although advocacy is present in all medical specialties, neurology in particular finds itself in need of strong advocacy tools as the diagnosis, treatment, long-term care and associated resource, and social issues have become increasingly complex. While some physicians implicitly or explicitly act as advocates, there is a lack of holistic research in order to clarify the meaning of advocacy along with concrete methods and strategies. Advocacy in Neurology provides an integrated approach to the concept of advocacy in neurology. Structured in five sections, the book begins by explaining the term "advocacy" in general before elaborating on the areas of interest within neurology. The text goes on to offer concrete strategies and tools for clinicians to deploy advocacy in their daily work, and then discusses specific neurological diseases to point out and explain where advocacy is, or could be, beneficial. The book ends with an outlook, presentation of results, and an ending conclusion. Advocacy in Neurology offers a practical perspective on advocacy activities in neurology, aiming to show when and why they are important for neurology.