Four easy steps to getting started with self-advocacy

This page is section 3 of 5 of FTWW’s My Voice Counts Self-Advocacy Toolkit.

If you are ready to improve your self-advocacy skills, here are a few important steps to getting started:

1. Think about your health priorities

Spend some time thinking carefully about what is affecting you and what is most important for you to address. Begin by making a list of your symptoms, issues, and their impact on you and try to rank them in order of importance, so you can be clear in your own mind about what to tackle first.

2. Carry out research

If you have a diagnosis, or more than one, try looking it up on trusted resources, such as the NHS website A-Z, or specialist charities, so you can find out more about your health condition(s) and how they might impact you. This can help you to understand the facts about your condition and validate your experience, so you feel more confident. It can also help you to learn how those health issues present and might be treated, so you can track how these things relate to your case. This will enable you to better communicate your experiences and needs effectively and efficiently.

3. Know your rights

The right to health is protected under international law. Article 12 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) states that everyone has a right to the highest possible standard of physical and mental health. The UK signed and ratified the ICESCR in 1976. Knowing this can help give you confidence in asking for a second medical opinion or challenging where you think you are being denied the care you need, perhaps because you don’t live in the ‘right’ health board.

4. Begin the journey to valuing yourself

When struggling with our health and related challenges, it can be all too easy to start doubting ourselves and feeling less worthy of fair treatment. Try instead to see how resilient you are as a person living with health issues; recognise that you are worthy of time and attention, that you deserve to be heard, taken seriously, and supported.

If you’re able to start growing your ability to self-advocate, you could find that your stress levels reduce. This is because you will know that you are on a journey to asserting yourself, making your voice heard, and being in more control of your situation. Also, when we’re less stressed, we can find that our health conversations go better, because we’re more able to concentrate on what’s being said and play a more active role in decision-making.