Mediation and Advocacy Websites
BSHS/442
December 2, 2013
Mediation and Advocacy Websites
Many organizations are out there to provide important services to different populations. The volunteers and workers who help these populations have different tactics that use, two important tactics are mediation and advocacy. Both of these methods are used to help an individual or group to become empowered, to help settle differences or negotiate problems.
The first website that I chose to look at was the North Carolina State University’s health center. They have a website that deals with conflict resolution using different techniques. This is a local website, and made specifically for that college, and the people who are affiliated with that college. The goal of this group and the website is to provide assistance to help individuals work out problems (Health Center, 2013). There are different negotiating styles to try out to hopefully find the one that will fit the situation and provide the help that is needed. Problems can arise quickly in a college setting, many times you are dealing with a younger crowd, who tend to get carried away occasionally alcohol can be involved, inexperience they need a place to turn for help. The goal of the student health center is to provide trained volunteers who are able to mediate and diffuse situations, ranging from roommate relationships to business and professional relationships. The volunteers give the students the tools they need to learn how to handle the disagreement.
The next website I found is Volunteers of America Northern New England. This is another group that practices mediation and advocacy. One of the ways this group is helping people in their local area of Maine is to host a conflict resolution training for veterans. (Volunteers of America NNE, 2013) This training is going to provide training on handling conflict in positive ways. Trained mediators help individuals in many disputes they can help with labor issues, insurance, employees, neighbors, friends, family, any sort of dispute you could be having. The goal with this group is to turn conflict around from a negative to a positive. They want people to handle their conflict the right way, by negotiating and talking. They mainly handle disputes in the New England area and a whole array of people. They do not specialize in one group of people. This is a free service to the people and they offer seminars to help others learn how to help other people.
Department of Veterans Affairs also has a mediation program in place (ADR). Their program is detailed and lays out step by step how