Welcome, kidney advocates! This toolkit will help you extend your advocacy outreach using social media during the 2017 Kidney Patient Summit.
Welcome, kidney advocates! This toolkit will help you extend your advocacy outreach using social media during the 2017 Kidney Patient Summit.
This year’s Summit theme, “My Kidneys, My Life,” aims to send a strong message to the lawmakers that kidneys are vital organs that sustain life. Help make it a success by using social media to garner attention from lawmakers and the public.
Use the hashtag #MyKidneysMyLife with all your social media activity during the Summit to help us build awareness around the hashtag, and track responses and outreach to government officials.
The following are three actionable items we’ll be asking the lawmakers for. Use these message points in your social media activity.
Improve Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Care:
Accurate and timely diagnosis of chronic kidney disease saves lives and reduces healthcare costs. Serve as an original co-sponsor on imminent legislation that seeks to establish a pilot program to help improve care, and outcomes, for patients with CKD.
Living Donor Protection Act (H.R. 1270):
Prohibit discrimination in the availability, coverage limit, or price of life, disability or long-term care insurance for living donors and add living donation to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Appropriations:
Increase Fiscal Year 2017 funding for the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Chronic Kidney Disease Program, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Division of Transplantation (DoT).
1. Take a photo of yourself holding a sign that answers the following question: How did kidney disease affect/change your life? (Example: “I have been waiting 5 years for a lifesaving kidney transplant.”)
2. Starting the week of February 20, tweet the photo at your legislator using the hashtag #MyKidneysMyLife in the weeks before the Summit and tie it to one of the below statistics:
Or use a state-specific state from the fact sheets on our web site:
3. Use these the following additional tweets:
We encourage you to take photos or videos with your smartphone when participating in advocacy events.
Why did you decide to become an advocate?
What brings you to Capitol Hill today?
What do you want lawmakers to know about kidney care?
Describe your visit with your lawmaker.