Working as Patient Advocate a Rewarding & Disappointing Experience
I've been doing some work as a patient advocate for a friend and for the local Community Support Systems, which my church also supports.
Recently it took me to a free dental clinic which was reported in the Washington Post here and Channel 9 here. All dentists and assistants volunteered their services - there were probably thousands of volunteers at this event. That was uplifting to know that this organization exists and that it got so much support.
The disappointment is the desperate need for dental services in this country and the lack of additional services like this. Also they turned a lot of people away and that doesn't count the many who couldn't get there for a wide variety of reasons.
I transported four people to the event on Fri. and I also transported someone to the preregistration the day before. There were long lines, so much time was spent.
A man who was deaf walked into the facility while I was sitting and waiting. It appeared they were having trouble communicating with him, so I stepped up and said I knew sign language. I didn't want to make the people whom I transported wait for me if I volunteered in another way, but he couldn't use reading and writing since his first language was "Egypt" he fingerspelled to me. They were nice to let him not wait on line as it benefitted both of us and his lack of reading English made it difficult for him to understand what was expected at this event. I'm not officially an interpreter, but it's good to know I was able to help him. Unfortunately, another disappointment was that they could do nothing of what he expected as he needed caps and crowns. All they gave him was a cleaning and referred him to the university dental school. Having tried that process with a friend, I know that can be costly, too, for someone with no income and it's not an easy process to go through either.
This country does not consider dental care equal to health care even though infections in the mouth can travel to the brain and heart. One child in the county died from the lack of proper dental care.
The good news is that the people I transported all got all or most of the dental care they needed at this event. Also, at least children will get their needed dental care starting Jan. with the new Obamacare law.