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What does a personal advocate do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted expert
Lesley Casarez Ph.D.

Personal advocates must have skills in communication, collaboration, and presentation. They also need a bachelor's or associate's degree in a health-related discipline, and their salary may range from $55K to over $100K per year depending on their degree. Personal advocates encourage and facilitate customer choices and support these choices in order to promote independence and personal growth.

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Personal advocate responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real personal advocate resumes:

  • Use EMR software to manage patient records and files; reinforce and uphold patient confidentiality as required by HIPAA and clinic.
  • Change bed linens, run errands, direct visitors and answer telephones.
  • Maintain the safety and security of shelter, and the cleanliness of facility.
  • Instruct, or advise clients on issues such as household cleanliness, utilities, hygiene or nutrition.
  • Assist patients in securing medical coverage by screening refer patients and coordinating the application process through successful approval.
  • Make contact with family or significant others to promote implementation of ISP and community stability.

Personal advocate skills and personality traits

We calculated that 17% of Personal Advocates are proficient in Mental Health, Inbound Calls, and Social Work. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Time-management skills, and Communication skills.

We break down the percentage of Personal Advocates that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Mental Health, 17%

    Assisted CIGNA insurance members in obtaining accurate and understandable mental health benefit information.

  • Inbound Calls, 13%

    Placed outbound calls and received inbound calls in order to educate and enroll customers in our wellness programs.

  • Social Work, 13%

    Provide supervision for bachelor and master level social work and counseling interns.

  • Crisis Intervention, 12%

    Ensured relevant community resources and communication techniques were utilized to provide effective crisis intervention with individuals requesting assistance.

  • Substance Abuse, 12%

    Conduct an intake as needed to assess for presenting concern and risk of harm or substance abuse concerns.

  • Safety Planning, 4%

    Provide survivors with safety planning and other useful resources

Most personal advocates use their skills in "mental health," "inbound calls," and "social work" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential personal advocate responsibilities here:

Compassion. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a personal advocate to have is compassion. Their role and responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Personal advocates often use compassion in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided 24 hour on- call weekly services provided empathy and compassion to victims of domestic abuse & sexual assault"

Time-management skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling personal advocate duties is time-management skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." According to a personal advocate resume, here's how personal advocates can utilize time-management skills in their job responsibilities: "conducted performance reviews for all customer service representatives to reduce resolution time and improve customer satisfaction rates. "

Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of personal advocates is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday personal advocate duties, as "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "worked on the crisis hotline as the first communication for women in domestic violence situations. "

Interpersonal skills. personal advocate responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." This resume example shows what personal advocates do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "provided emotional support to clients to help them cope appropriately with interpersonal stressors. "

Organizational skills. Another common skill required for personal advocate responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of personal advocates all the time, as "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." An excerpt from a real personal advocate resume shows how this skill is central to what a personal advocate does: "provided basic counseling services to students enrolled in organizational programs with behavioral issues. "

Problem-solving skills. Lastly, "problem-solving skills" is an important element of what a personal advocate does. Personal advocate responsibilities require this skill because "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." This resume example highlights how personal advocate duties rely on this skill: "assisted clients in safety planning, identifying options, and problem-solving. "

All personal advocate skills

The three companies that hire the most personal advocates are:

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Compare different personal advocates

Personal advocate vs. Volunteer

Volunteers are usually unpaid individuals who render their service to a company or organization. Most of the time, volunteers are skilled in specific areas needed by the organization but prefer to provide free service. They may be employed in another organization, but they lend their time and talent to another organization or company to give back to the community. They raise funds, create awareness, and work on the ground. Volunteers usually choose a cause or advocacy close to their heart, such as teaching children, taking care of the elderly, coaching sports teams, cleaning up communities, and caring for animals.

If we compare the average personal advocate annual salary with that of a volunteer, we find that volunteers typically earn a $5,350 lower salary than personal advocates make annually.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between personal advocates and volunteer. For instance, personal advocate responsibilities require skills such as "mental health," "inbound calls," "social work," and "crisis intervention." Whereas a volunteer is skilled in "child care," "patient charts," "patient care," and "front desk." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Volunteers tend to reach similar levels of education than personal advocates. In fact, volunteers are 2.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Personal advocate vs. Activity assistant

Activity assistants are the ones who organize and execute activities in different settings, including recreation centers, camps, cruise ships, and retirement or nursing homes. They design programs to encourage physical activity, increase socialization, deliver continuing education, and provide entertainment. They are also the ones who handle logistics, select and demonstrate activities, maintain proper equipment, and ensure the safety of participants. They can work full-time, part-time, or seasonally in different settings depending on the kind of clients that they cater to.

On average, activity assistants earn a $6,966 lower salary than personal advocates a year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Personal advocates and activity assistants both require similar skills like "emotional support," "cpr," and "vital signs" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real personal advocate resumes. While personal advocate responsibilities can utilize skills like "mental health," "inbound calls," "social work," and "crisis intervention," activity assistants use skills like "patients," "home health," "rehabilitation," and "senior care."

Activity assistants earn lower levels of education than personal advocates in general. They're 5.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for personal advocates in the next 3-5 years?

Lesley Casarez Ph.D.Lesley Casarez Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Director, Quality Enhancement Plan Program Coordinator, M.S. Professional School Counseling Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Angelo State University

Graduates will need to learn to use technology in which virtual platforms are taking place and web conferencing platforms. Numerous platforms are being used, so the particular platform itself is not as crucial as being well-versed in how virtual education differs from face-to-face environments. Typically, the instructional role in online learning is more of a facilitator, as the educator guides the students to think critically, integrate, and apply new knowledge. This may be difficult for educators who would rather stand in front of a classroom and pass on their knowledge through lecture-based formats. Additionally, being well-versed in various web conferencing platforms will benefit graduates, as they move into a career that is currently requiring communication in virtual environments.

Personal advocate vs. Liaison

A liaison is a middle person responsible for collaborating different institutes, managing professional relationships to create benefiting results that would help a business' meet its goals and objectives. Duties of a liaison include facilitating communications, establishing partnership contract plans and procedures, managing conflicts, providing immediate resolution for concerns, and evaluating collaboration parameters. A liaison must be highly knowledgeable about the subject matters of the represented organization, handling inquiries, and coming up with strategic solutions to make the project successful.

An average liaison eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of personal advocates. The difference in salaries amounts to liaisons earning a $17,160 higher average salary than personal advocates.By looking over several personal advocates and liaisons resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "mental health," "social work," and "crisis intervention." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a personal advocate is likely to be skilled in "inbound calls," "substance abuse," "safety planning," and "cleanliness," while a typical liaison is skilled in "patients," "customer service," "home health," and "rehabilitation."

Liaisons make a very good living in the manufacturing industry with an average annual salary of $77,941. On the other hand, personal advocates are paid the highest salary in the insurance industry, with average annual pay of $37,799.liaisons typically earn similar educational levels compared to personal advocates. Specifically, they're 3.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Personal advocate vs. Communication assistant

A communication assistant is responsible for publishing content and analyzing brainstorming ideas to create an engaging publication. Communication assistants' duties include posting newsletters, spreading company updates through bulletin boards or digital contents, managing the organization's press release and media coverage, monitoring social media presence, developing strategic communication procedures with the team, and researching trends. They also perform administrative tasks as needed. A communication assistant must have excellent communication skills, both in writing and speaking, especially when interacting with a large group or writing content duties.

Communication assistants average a lower salary than the annual salary of personal advocates. The difference is about $3,753 per year.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "mental health," "inbound calls," "social work," and "crisis intervention" are skills that commonly show up on personal advocate resumes. On the other hand, communication assistants use skills like customer service, web content, administrative tasks, and press releases on their resumes.The education industry tends to pay the highest salaries for communication assistants, with average annual pay of $35,133. Comparatively, the highest personal advocate annual salary comes from the insurance industry.communication assistants reach similar levels of education compared to personal advocates, in general. The difference is that they're 3.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of personal advocate

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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