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Health Care Advocates

Dawn

Has anyone had social services appoint an advocate to help with general medical care? What are your experiences? How did you manage to get an advocate and were they there when you needed them?

My sensory issues combine with my medical phobias to produce melt down or shut down in medical situations. At times in the past this has meant that I temporarily do not have mental capacity. It often means I am not taking in a word and leaves me in high anxiety states.

My GP referred to social services but social services are refusing. 

At present I simply cannot access any health care.

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  • in reply to πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

    Hi Jamie,

    Thanks for replying. 

    This is getting so confusing. Prior to my diagnosis, I was under MH care for my medical phobias. I did for a short time have a 'co-ordinator'. She once volunteered to come to an appointment with me. She was then slapped down by her management and told that was NOT her role and that they are not allowed to support people in that way. In the end, I went through a major dental intervention which caused a severe crisis with no support. I was even deemed to have no "capacity" to consent to the procedure as I went into an extreme meltdown awaiting the procedure.

    Of course no one knew that I was autistic then.

    What's difficult is that autism, per se - even in meltdown isn't a mental health issue. The only mental health component is that the sensory issues, undiagnosed for 56 years caused a monumental medical phobia in childhood.

    I know MH won't take this on, but neither will social service...they would if I had difficulties communicating out and about, but not if the communication issue is in health care settings. I don't need help to get out and go places. I can do that all by myself and I have friends, but health care...even adjusting the appointment system to make it easier on me is something they just will NOT do.

    So, who is supposed to get me the support to access general health care. At the moment, I can't go to the doctor's. This is ridiculous. Do they want me to just go away and die in a corner, because only issue I need any support with is no one's responsibility. Certainly feels that way.