patient advocate?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

This may not be quite appropriate to ask here but I am putting out feelers wherever - so don't snark me!

I have a serious family medical situation developing (elderly parent, etc. etc) and am trying to find out if there is a role player person such as "patient advocate" or doctor-patient liaison or patient therapist for medical issues. The gist being that the med stuff is hard to navigate/translate into simpler terms, and the various options are also hard to ferret out/decide between.

Does such a profession exist: someone who is medically informed and is capable of talking to both Drs + patients?

Comments

[fantastic-salad.livejournal.com]

sorry, but the actor with the most blatant profit motive is undoubtedly the worst place to start.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I work for a non-profit HMO, so perhaps my perspective is a little different.