The most commonly expressed need within this theme, and the most frequent suggestion from participants as a way to address the broader support needs described above, was the concept of a “patient advocate.” This phrase was used independently in three of the five focus groups, with the other two groups using terms such as “ambassador” and “personal coach” to describe a similar concept. Patient advocates were seen as necessary personnel within an ILD clinic to ensure that patients’ needs were met. The roles of patient advocates were broad. First and foremost, they were envisioned as providing patient support and information, particularly at the time of diagnosis. One participant expressed, “Having an advocate in the clinic who understands the dynamic of getting hit over the head in the appointment with all of the information that they’ve gotten, just have an advocate be in there to respond to all of the terminology and the questions that the doctor left you with because you didn’t have enough time to ask . . . a translator.”