Clients are the major stakeholders in the health system. As a result, they need empowerment on matters of their health. Client empowerment means putting them in a situation where they have adequate knowledge over their health issues (Ennis-O'Connor, 2018). In addition, client empowerment entails offering sufficient facilitation for enabling them to access quality and affordable healthcare at any time of the day. There are various ways of client empowerment, which help them to not only understand their rights regarding health but also have the ability to access quality health care.
One of the major strategies of empowering clients to make health decisions is to make them knowledgeable about their rights on matters of health. It is factual that most clients suffer silently since they are not cognizant of their rights when it comes to access to health. In this regard, clients must know that they have an inherent right to proper and medical health care. At any point in life, the government has the duty to provide medical care to any citizen since citizens pay taxes, which must translate into services to the citizens. When a client has proper knowledge of their rights, they will know the steps to take whenever faced with a health issue (Lewis & Pignone, 2009). Additionally, clients with families who may face health challenges will know where to take their patients for medication whenever they have a health problem. The rationale behind this strategy is that most governmental agencies try to evade taking responsibility on health issues due to ignorance by patients who cannot demand their rights from these agencies. Therefore, offering knowledge on health rights enables clients to pressurize government health agencies to execute their duties. The strategy makes clients accountable for their health aspects as well as those of their close family members.
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Educating clients on issues of health is another viable strategy of empowering them. Education is an important tool for ensuring that patients have adequate knowledge of their health matters. Health is a broad subject, and it requires educating clients on their specific health needs to enable them to deal with their health issues (Hooser, 2002). A patient who has asthma, for instance, requires some basic knowledge on this ailment so that he or she can know the major causes of asthma, the primary symptoms that are exhibited when the condition escalates, and medications that he or she can access before reaching the hospital. The rationale behind a patient understanding his or her health complication is that they are placed in a better position to handle their health situation during critical times. Asthma, for instance, is a dangerous ailment, whose severe symptoms often emerge at the time when the patient hardly expects. The symptoms can be dealt with in case the patient knows how and when to administer first aid. Such a strategy also puts a client in a position to offer health assistance to family members or friends who may face a similar situation. As far as accountability is concerned, a patient who understands their health condition will know how and when to act whenever the condition aggravates to the worst state.
In conclusion, health issues are critical, and they often need quick interventions whenever there is a need. Such an intervention can only be executed if the client has better knowledge of the issues that characterize the health condition. Through education, the patient will know the right place to go when seeking health services. Furthermore, a client who is aware of their rights within the health realm knows their rights with regards to the interaction with the governmental health agencies.
References
Lewis, C. L., & Pignone, M. P. (2009). Promoting informed decision-making in a primary care practice by implementing decision aids. North Carolina medical journal , 70 (2), 136–139.
Ennis-O'Connor, M. (2018, May 22). What Does It Mean To Be An Empowered Patient? Retrieved from https://powerfulpatients.org/2018/05/22/what-does-it-mean-to-be-an-empowered-patient /
Hooser, D. (2002). Public health nurses used 4 strategies to facilitate client empowerment. Evidence-Based Nursing, 5(3), 94–94. doi:10.1136/ebn.5.3.94
