Several years ago, our family experienced something that changed the way we looked athealthcare—and ultimately planted the seed for the work we do today.
It began when our mother was taken to the emergency department experiencing shortness of breath and dangerously high blood pressure readings. Like most families in that situation, we were deeply concerned, but relieved that she was in a place where we believed she would receive the care she needed.
We trusted the system.
What we weren't prepared for was how quickly that system could become difficult to navigate.
When Care Becomes Fragmented
From the emergency department through the days that followed, our mother's care felt increasingly fragmented and disorganized. There were different providers, different conversations, changing plans and pieces of information that didn't always seem to connect.
Each person involved may have been addressing an individual part of her care, but as her family, we began to wonder:
Who was looking at the whole picture?
And while everyone was focused on the medical issues that brought her to the hospital, something else was happening.
Our mother was getting weaker.
Day by day, she became increasingly deconditioned. Within a week, a woman who had previously been able to function independently had declined to the point that she could do very little for herself.
But the decline wasn't only physical.
We also began to see a significant change in her emotional well-being. As she became weaker and increasingly dependent on others, her anxiety grew. She became fearful and overwhelmed by what was happening to her. The loss of independence, uncertainty about her condition and unfamiliar hospital environment began taking an emotional toll.
We watched as anxiety was joined by signs of depression. The longer she remained hospitalized and the weaker she became, the more discouraged and withdrawn she seemed. She was losing confidence in her ability to recover and return to the life she had before.
Eventually, my sister and I came to a difficult conclusion:
We had to get Mom home.
We genuinely feared that if her decline continued, she might not leave the hospital alive.
Becoming Her Advocates
Getting her home wasn't the end of the challenge.
In many ways, it was the beginning.
My sister and I made a plan. Each of us took time away from work so that someone could stay with Mom around the clock.
We monitored her condition. We helped with her medications, meals, mobility and personal care. We encouraged her to move and regain her strength. We watched for changes. We asked questions. We communicated with her healthcare providers.
Most importantly, we made sure someone was paying attention to all of her, not simply one diagnosis or one problem at a time.
Slowly, Mom began to recover.
With time, attention and consistent support, we were able to help nurse her back toward her previous level of functioning.
But the experience left us with a question that we couldn't forget:
What happens to the person who doesn't have family who can do this?
The Question That Stayed With Us
Not every family has a nurse in the family.
Not everyone can take time off from work.
Some adult children live hundreds or thousands of miles away from their parents. Others are raising children, working full-time or caring for someone else.
And many families simply don't know what questions to ask.
They may recognize that something doesn't seem right but don't know how to communicate their concerns.
They may receive medical information they don't fully understand.
They may be trying to coordinate multiple physicians, medications, appointments and recommendations.
Or they may be exhausted and overwhelmed while trying to make important decisions for someone they love.
We began to realize that there was a gap between receiving healthcare and successfully navigating healthcare.
That gap is where advocacy can make a difference.
Why We Chose Healthcare Advocacy
The experience with our mom helped us understand that patients and families need someone who can step back and see the bigger picture.
Someone who knows the system and which questions to ask.
Someone who can help organize information.
Someone who can help families prepare for appointments and conversations with healthcare providers.
Someone who can connect families with helpful resources, clarify their options, and explain information in a way that makes sense.
Someone who can notice when the pieces don't seem to fit together.
And sometimes, someone who simply has the time to listen.
A healthcare advocate doesn't replace physicians, nurses or other healthcare professionals. Good advocacy works alongside them.
The goal is to help patients and families become informed participants in their own care.
No Family Should Feel Alone in the Healthcare System
Three years later, one question from that experience has never left us…
What happens to a vulnerable older adult who is alone, with no one beside them to recognize when something isn’t right, ask the right questions, or ensure their needs and wishes are heard?
That question became “our why”, the reason we decided to create this service.We want to be a resource for the daughter or son trying to care for their mother while working full- time.
For the husband overwhelmed by his wife's new diagnosis.
For the older adult trying to understand several specialists and a growing medication list.
For the family sitting in a hospital room wondering what questions they should be asking.
And for the caregiver who is simply exhausted and needs someone knowledgeable beside them.
Our journey into healthcare advocacy didn't begin with a business plan. It began with our mom.
It began with two daughters realizing that someone needed to look at the whole picture, ask questions, pay attention and make sure the person they loved didn't get lost in a complicated healthcare system
Today, we want to provide that same kind of support to other patients and families.
Because no one should have to navigate healthcare alone.
