Advocacy for psychiatric patients in the Netherlands: The model of the Dutch National Foundation of Patient Advocates in Mental Health Care ; Defensa de los pacientes psiquiátricos en los Países Bajos: El modelo de la Fundación Nacional Holandesa de Defensores del Paciente en el Cuidado de la Salud Mental

In the Netherlands, involuntary as well as voluntary psychiatric patients have a right to individual support of a patient advocate. Since 1982, the support of patient advocates has been organized and facilitated by the Dutch National Foundation of Patient Advocates in Mental Health Care. The way in which patient advocates have to perform their statutory tasks has been elaborated in rules of conduct formulated by the above-mentioned Foundation. Some cornerstones in the Dutch model are independence from the psychiatric hospital, easy accessibility, confidentiality, receptivity to a patient’s que... Mehr ...