Community Health Advocate Manual

The Community Health Advocate Manual is a comprehensive manual for training community health advocates (a project of the Vancouver Women's Health Collective (VWHC) with funding from the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board). The manual includes information about the VWHC's feminist perspective on health and its philosophical position on the need for women's health care advocates in the health care system. The manual includes: a chapter on the BC health care system; a chapter on women's health issues (such as reproductive health, abortion, breast health, etc.); a chapter on empowering women and patients' rights; a chapter on dealing with violence and misconduct in the health care system; and a chapter detailing forms of advocacy and different ways that the community health advocates project could be used to advocate on behalf of women's health needs. The manual also includes: worksheets and strategies for advocating on behalf of a woman; case studies; summary of skills necessary for successful advocacy; resources for advocates, including articles on women's health and patients' rights; and contact information for other useful organizations.