May is Asthma Awareness Month, creating an important opportunity for Childhood Asthma Leadership Coalition member organizations and their partners to raise the important role public policy plays in helping children with asthma stay healthy.
Much of the news and social media outreach about Asthma Awareness Month will likely focus on tips for parents or local experts’ perspectives on the problem’s scope. But we can help audiences to see that decisions in Washington and state capitals have an important impact on the health of local children. With Congress considering legislation to weaken Medicaid, raising the voices of the childhood asthma community is especially important.
This toolkit offers ideas and examples you can use in your community. Feel free to use any or all of these resources:
- Traditional Media
- A sample op-ed that connects Medicaid’s future with the health of local children and urges congressional representatives to take a stand for children’s health
- A tipsheet on pitching newspaper opinion editors
- Social Media
- Sample Facebook and Twitter posts designed to gradually move your online networks, over the course of the month from awareness of Medicaid’s important role for children with asthma to engagement with policymakers
- A social media tipsheet
The toolkit was developed by First Focus for Coalition members. If you have questions or need extra help, please feel free to contact the First Focus communications team. If you use the toolkit in your Asthma Awareness Month outreach efforts, please share examples of your work to make it even easier for other Coalition members to get involved.
