Advocacy 101
America is at a crossroads in healthcare reform, and there has never been a time that strong advocate voices were needed more to protect home, hospice and palliative care patients and their families, and to ensure that their needs for high-quality, compassionate care are met. Ohio Home, Hospice and Palliative Care Advocacy Network (OHPCAN) seeks to arm its advocates with the most accurate and up-to-date information on current policy issues as well as tools to help even the most novice advocate make their voice heard. To sign up for OHPCAN or to get more information, click here.
Advocacy can be an intimidating process, and OHPCAN recognizes this. Whether visiting the Ohio Statehouse or Capitol Hill, you'll see droves of professional advocates dressed in suits, armed with testimony and facts and figures that they will use to sway policymakers to their cause. It is easy to begin to question your ability to make a difference in the policy arena, but don't let it get you down.
You, after all, are the most powerful person in politics. You are a constituent. It is by virtue of your vote that your legislator has a job, and he or she has to answer to you with regards to the policies s/he chooses to support. Furthermore, while you may not have facts and charts and figures, you have something far more compelling: you are the person who has the stories. The importance of stories cannot and should not be underestimated in their ability to drive policy changes.
These pages include handy tips and pointers to help you become a more skilled advocate, from pointers when making a office visit to your legislator, to talking points for industry issues. No tip sheet or resource can replace practice, however, and the most effective way to become a better advocate is to get out there and exercise your advocacy muscles. To start the process today, click here.
Tools for Advocacy:
OHPCAN is a non-partisan, volunteer network of staff, trustees and volunteers of Ohio's hospice, home and palliative care providers as well as volunteer citizens concerned about hospice, home and palliative care issues. OHPCAN is a project of the Ohio Hospice & Palliative Care Organization. For more information about hospice or hospice advocacy, please contact Susan Wallace, Public Policy Coordinator of Ohio Hospice & Palliative Care Organization and Ohio Home Care Organization at susan@ohpco.org or by calling 1-800-766-9513.
