In due time, I hope I can support you in this!

In my time as a social worker, I have provided medical and legal advocacy services to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, through various agencies I have worked for. I have met survivors at the hospital and helped them through their various thoughts and emotions, as they navigate medical examination, making choices around medical testing and treatment, and sometimes evidence collection. This has often involved interfacing with various professionals, such as nurses, doctors, law enforcement officers and detectives, and occasionally even attorneys, as well as family members and friends. It has been an honor to provide this service in the past, and being an advocate for others, especially in the medical system, is something I have become very passionate about.

And what I have learned in my time in this profession is that medical advocacy services do not exist for very many issues that people are facing.

I have also found that people in my everyday life as well as in my professional life ask me questions about how to navigate systems, either because they know of my professional experience, because they know I have had personal experience navigating certain medical systems, or because I have a special skill at cutting through red tape and getting people to listen when someone is not being heard. I realized, through helping others in this way, that this is a gap in services in our community, and it is time for that gap to be filled.

So here I am, working to find a way to do that.

***This service is still in development, particularly in the development of a pay structure and a determination around billability of this service.***

When launched, I hope to provide medical advocacy services, in the form of focused support and medical system navigation provision, around the following issues:

• Chronic illness (including autoimmune and hypermobility conditions)

• Gender-based violence (when referral to related service is not appropriate)

• Infertility

• Neurodivergence

• Overall healthcare / insurance system navigation

Please stay tuned to learn more! I am excited to offer this support to our community.