How The Commission is changing: A focus on client advocacy professionals, Part 1

As The Commission™ evolves, so does the way we speak about the workforce we serve. You’ll see The Commission using a new term: client advocacy professional. It is a broad, inclusive term that reflects the many professionals who advocate for the interests of their clients. This includes professional case managers, disability management specialists, client advocates, community health workers, social and behavioral health professionals, and others whose work is centered around the clients they serve.

Over time, I have come to deeply appreciate the complexity and importance of the professionals who help individuals navigate care. I have also come to better understand the vital role they play in identifying services, benefits and support systems, while helping people make sense of complex regulatory and legal systems. They work at the intersection of health care, social services, employer and community settings. They help people access resources, understand options and advocate for their clients’ needs through complex systems -- all while ensuring the people they serve feel supported during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Advocacy is a central part of their job, role, task and function. 

To The Commission, the term client advocacy professional refers to a broad group with a set of core professional and ethical standards. Client advocacy professionals work to build and maintain trusting relationships while advocating for client needs through shared decision making, collaboration, and coordination on the client's behalf.  A client advocacy professional maintains the client’s privacy, confidentiality, health and safety through advocacy. In addition, they work with the client while adhering to ethical, legal, accreditation, certification and regulatory standards or guidelines. 

As The Commission moves forward, our goal is not to focus on a single job function or job title, but to recognize, certify competencies and advance the multiple job functions and titles among the professionals who help coordinate client care, navigate systems, access support and collaboratively achieve better outcomes across multiple settings.

The Commission’s evolution reflects what many across the field already know. Responsibilities are expanding across settings and job titles. Technology is enabling and changing roles and expectations. Value-based models are reshaping how services are paid for and delivered. Employers and governments are looking for professionals who are nimble, can implement technology and are able to respond to change. As a result, client advocacy professionals are looking for credible and trusted learning opportunities to invest in their own continued professional growth throughout their career. 

The term client advocacy professional helps us better reflect the workforce as it exists today and better serve the professionals who will shape what comes next. The imperative to ensure there is a future-ready workforce is no longer theoretical. It is here.