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Basic InformationMore InformationLatest NewsCrowdsourcing Raises Billions for Families Hit Hard by Medical BillsBiden Says He Will Release All Vaccine Doses After Taking Office1 in 4 Doctors Harassed Online, Study FindsMoves, Evictions Often Trigger Harmful Breaks in Health Care: StudySome Americans Can't Access Telemedicine, Study ShowsHealth Care After COVID: The Rise of TelemedicineNeurologists Much Tougher to Find in Rural AmericaAs Testing Costs Rise, Neurology Patients May Skip Screening1 in 7 Studies in Nutrition Journals Have Food Industry TiesUSPS Cuts Could Pose Harm If Mail-Order Meds Delayed: Study329 Americans Are Injured by Guns Every Day: StudySome Talc Products Contain Asbestos: StudyAHA News: Why People Fear Performing CPR on Women – and What to Do About It'Green Prescriptions' May Backfire for SomePreventive Health Care Falls by Wayside During PandemicSmoking Bans Don't Work If Not Enforced, NYC Study FindsTelemedicine Out of Reach for Those Who Can't Get OnlineLies Spread on Social Media May Mean Fewer Vaccinations1 in 3 Americans Prescribed Inappropriate DrugsColon Cancer Screening Should Start at Age 45: Task ForceWhat Will It Take for People to Embrace a COVID Vaccine?What Will Convince Americans to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine?CDC Recommends Face Masks in All Public Transportation SettingsInsured Patients Are Getting Surprise Bills After ColonoscopiesBogus 'Cure' Claims Have U.S. Consumers Snapping Up CBD ProductsPediatricians' Group Tackles Racism in Health CareAs Virtual Doctor Visits Spike, Concerns About Equity, Missed Diagnoses GrowWas FDA Lax in Approving Opioids Too Easily?Allowing More Gay Men to Donate Corneas Could Save Sight for Thousands: StudyAccuracy of COVID-19 Antibody Tests Varies Widely, Study FindsCould Drones Delivering Defibrillators Save Lives?Statins Going Generic Saved Medicare BillionsAHA News: Looming Wave of Evictions, Housing Instability Pose Threat to HealthAHA News: Health Apps Pose Privacy Risks, But Experts Offer This AdviceCould You Save a Life After Mass Violence? Most Americans Say NoGun Violence Costs U.S. Health Care System $170 Billion AnnuallyWith COVID Vaccine in Works, 1 in 5 Americans Doesn't Believe in ShotsTelehealth Skyrocketing Among Older AdultsPharmacists in All U.S. States Can Give Kids Childhood ShotsAHA News: COVID-19's Economic Fallout Expands Food Insecurity, as Groups Scramble to HelpCOVID-19 Clinical Trials Lack Diversity, Researchers SayLook Beyond Fossil Fuels to Curb Air PollutionTelemedicine Is Here: Experts Offer Tips for SeniorsMany Older Adults Can't Connect With Telehealth: StudyAHA News: High-Speed Internet Offers Key Connection to Health, But Millions Lack It11 States Could Face ICU Doc Shortages as Coronavirus Cases SurgeWill the Telemedicine Boom Outlast the Pandemic?Yet Another Study Finds Vaccines Are SafeIn Rush to Publish, Most COVID-19 Research Isn't Reliable, Experts SayWith Tighter Handgun Laws, U.S. Would See Fewer Suicides by Young People Links |
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Health Policy-Advocacy: Know Your RightsSAMHSA - Mary Ellen Copeland, M.S., M.A.Everyone is entitled to the same civil rights and equal treatment, including people with disabilities or distressing symptoms. This is a list of some of your personal rights. You have the right to:
- ask for what you want, to say yes or no, to change your mind and to make mistakes
- follow your own values, standards, and spiritual beliefs
- express all of your feelings, both positive or negative, in a responsible manner
- be afraid and uncertain, and to do what you want and need to do for yourself anyway
- have the friends and interests of your choice
- be uniquely yourself and to change and grow
- have your own personal space and time
- be safe
- be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect at all times
In addition you have, health care rights which will depend on Federal and State laws.
These health care rights much include:
- know the side-effects of recommended medications and treatments
- decide for yourself treatments that are acceptable to you and those that are not and to refuse medications and treatments that are unacceptable to you
- a second opinion without being penalized
- change health care providers - although this right may be limited by some health care plans
- have the person or people of your choice be with you when you are seeing your doctor or other health care worker
If you are in a hospital setting or residential treatment program, in addition to the rights listed above, you may have the right to:
- communicate in person, by sending and receiving mail, and by reasonable access to telephones, with the people of your choice
- wear your own clothing
- keep personal possessions, including toilet articles
- privacy to perform personal hygiene tasks
- a written treatment plan that you develop with input from your health care providers that is updated as your condition or treatment changes
- be represented by a lawyer whenever your rights may be affected (you may have to pay a fee to be represented, unless you find a lawyer who will not charge you.)
- the same civil rights, respect, dignity, and compassion, and in the same manner and with the same effects, as a person not in such a facility
The only time your rights may not be honored is if you are making unsafe requests or indicating in some other way that you may hurt yourself or someone else.
If you know that your rights are being violated, the first thing to do, if possible, is to ask the person, people, organization, agency, or institution that is violating your rights to stop doing that. If they don't stop, reach out for help. Depending upon the kind of violation, you could contact a counselor, mental health agency, law enforcement officials, or your local office of protection and advocacy. If you are unsure whether your rights have been violated, contact the agency of protection and advocacy in your location.
Sourced from Speaking Out For Yourself: A Self-Help Guide, SAMHSA booklet SMA-3719
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