Hiring a pediatric health care advocate for advisory and support services.

In this study, factors that influence a person's likelihood of hiring a pediatric health care advocate (HCA) for support and/or advisory services were examined. Participants were asked to read vignettes in which a child's symptom severity, probability of mortality, and age were manipulated. A significantly higher likelihood of hiring an HCA for advisory services than for support services was found.

Factors that influence the likelihood of hiring a health care advocate for a chronically ill child.

Introduction: In response to the increasing complexity of the health care system, the field of health care advocacy has emerged. However, little is known about variables that may influence a person's likelihood of hiring a health care advocate (HCA) for their chronically ill child.

Methods: Severity (high or low) and probability of mortality (high or low) of a child's chronic illness and the child's age (1, 7, or 13 years) were manipulated using vignettes.