The final day of the Arthritis Foundation’s 2019 Advocacy Summit is also the most exciting for Advocates. It’s a day filled with energy, focus and a little bit of nervousness – but those jitters were quickly funneled into fuel for a long day of meetings. Continue reading Advocates Share Their Stories to Empower Change→
Did you know that the Empowered to Live Yes! Advocacy Summit is taking place in Washington, DC this March 11-12? There, our Advocates and Ambassadors will gather together to be the voice for arthritis on Capitol Hill. We’re calling on you to help amplify the impact of our in-person meetings with legislators by participating virtually in our #AdvocateforArthritis social media campaign on Tuesday, March 12.
You have an important role to play in making sure these messages stand out to our members of Congress—you can help us #AdvocateforArthritis by participating in our social media campaign. With over 97% of Congress using social media platforms like twitter and facebook to connect with their constituents and learn about what is important to them, we have an enormous power to influence our policymakers by uniting online!
You can take action in five easy steps:
Create your sign: Print out this sign and in one sentence, written large and legible, tell us why you #AdvocateforArthritis!
Take your picture: Hold your sign and snap a picture- it’s important that your words are large and easy to read in the picture. Ask a friend to take your picture so they can help make sure your message is clear!
Set an alarm: Our goal is to flood the internet with our messages of hope and determination at 12:00 pm Eastern Time on March 12. Coordinating our posts will help our hashtag gain traction on social media. Set an alarm on your phone or calendar right now to remind yourself to post your picture online at 12:00 pm eastern on March 12!
Plan your Post:Your post can be simple, just reiterate the reason that you #AdvocateforArthritis! You’ll want to make sure to include the hashtag #AdvocateforArthritis and tag the Arthritis Foundation. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter @ArthritisFdn and Instagram @arthritisfoundation.
Send it live: On March 12 at 12:00 pm Eastern Time, your alarm will ring to tell you it’s time to share your story online. You can view all of the posts in our social media aggregator on our Advocate 101 web page.
If you want to take your post to the next level, you can:
Tag your members of Congress. Your post can tell them why you #AdvocateforArthritis and to keep an eye out for our Advocacy Champions on the Hill that day.
Example tweet: “I #AdvocateforArthritis with the @ArthritisFdn because patients are the ultimate stakeholders in health care. @ SenatorCantwell& @PattyMurray, look out for our Arthritis Advocates on Capitol Hill this March 12!”
Share a Link to our Action Center. Encourage your friends to take action by your side by sharing a link to org/actioncenter. There they’ll be able to pick an action alert of their choice that will allow them to send a pre-formatted letter to Congress,emphasizing the asks from our Advocacy Summit. This will help us amplify the voices on Capitol Hill an encourage members of Congress to support our arthritis priorities.
Example tweet: “I #AdvocateforArthritis with the @ArthritisFdn because patients are the ultimate stakeholders in health care. Take action with me by sharing your story with Congress at arthritis.org/actioncenter
Raise Awareness for your Walk to Cure Arthritis Team Page.By posting your reason to #AdvocateforArthritis with a link to your team or donation page, you have an opportunity to reach new people with your message and motivate them to help contribute to research for a cure.
Example tweet, “I #AdvocateforArthritis because I am one of the 300,000 children in the United States with juvenile arthritis. You can support my @ArthritisFdn advocacy by joining or contributing to my Walk to Cure Arthritis Team. [Include a link to your team page]”
Post your pictures with our #AdvocateforArthritis hashtag and we will show the world that we are Empowered to Live Yes!
Here are some sample signs to help you brainstorm:
I #AdvocateforArthritis because sharing my story gives me hope and purpose in my daily battle with this disease.
I #AdvocateforArthritis because people with arthritis deserve a cure.
I #AdvocateforArthritis because my child lives with JA & because of the Arthritis Foundation, she knows she/he is not alone.
I #AdvocateforArthritis because I need to protect my access to my medications so that I can continue to walk.
I #AdvocateforArthritis because I am the 1 in 3 military veterans that came home with this disease.
Step therapy, also known as “fail first,” is a tool used by insurers that requires patients to try a less expensive treatment, or series of treatments, before they can access the drug originally prescribed by their physician. Overly burdensome step therapy requirements can jeopardize the patient-provider relationship and unnecessarily prolong ineffective treatment, preventing patients from immediately starting, or in some cases continuing, to access the most appropriate treatment recommended by their doctor. Continue reading Importance of Step Therapy Reform→
Mark your calendars! This year’s Live Yes! Advocacy Summit will take place on March 11-12, 2019 in Washington, D.C. and it won’t be a success without your voices from across the country. Join us in the nation’s capitol and share your story with policymakers to break down barriers to care for people with arthritis.