Unity Wellness Advocacy Program
A Free Service of Unity Church in Charlottesville
Helping Individuals and Care-Givers
Navigate the Ever Increasing
Complexities of Health-Care
If you’ve come face-to-face with today’s health-care system for
either yourself or a loved one, you know how complicated and frustrating it can be.
The Unity Wellness Advocacy Program (UWA) is a non-profit service of Unity Church in Charlottesville to assist in unraveling the confusion and providing clear and helpful options. We do not diagnose or treat, but work to help you more effectively understand your options, and communicate with your health-care providers and insurance companies. In short, we want to help you make more informed choices for yourself and your loved ones.
How Can the
Unity Wellness Advocacy Program
Help Me and My Loved Ones?
- You have been newly diagnosed with illness and have questions or need support
- You need help in accessing and understanding the health care system
- You need a compassionate listener to help you communicate with your physician or other health care providers
- You need help in caring for a loved one or dealing with their various health issues
- You need help understanding medications, treatments, or diets
- You need help in exploring alternative health care options
- You need help in understanding your healthcare insurance and knowing which bills to pay
What is the Next Step?
To arrange an appointment with the Unity’s Wellness Advocate, please call: (434) 978-1062, ext 301
or send an email to: rdshu342@comcast.net
How the Unity Wellness Advocacy Program Works
- Call or email UWA to set up an appointment. At your appointment, there will be an initial interview . If your concern is a personal health issue, a nursing assessment will be completed. There are no invasive procedures.
- All information is strictly confidential between the client and UWA. No information is accessible, nor will be shared with Unity Church. Any medical information will be locked in a secure space and be available only to UWA.
- The level of service and/or referrals would be based on information gathered at the initial interview
- Should a referral be necessary, UWA would communicate, or assist the client in communicating, with the appropriate physicians, health-care providers, insurance companies, social service agencies or healing practitioners.
- UWA does not diagnose or treat, but exists solely to help people be better informed about their health-care decisions and health-care options for either themselves or their loved ones.
- UWA services are offered on a love offering basis and no one will be turned away.
- UWA follows the Commonwealth of Virginia Nurse Practice Act.
John E. Travers, R.N., M.N.
John Travers has been a nurse and teacher of nursing for over 44 years. He received his diploma in practical nursing at Montefiore Medical Center, his B.S.N. degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and his Masters Degree in Nursing at Columbia University Teachers College.
His clinical nursing practice includes; emergency department intensive care, extensive practice in all forms of surgery, administration, and consultation on various health care issues.
John was an instructor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine from 1989-1993, and VP of Nursing at a level 2 trauma center in Virginia. He has taught nursing and served in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps as a division officer in a Surgical Trauma Unit in Desert Shield & Desert Storm in 1990-91.