Raising Awareness of these Causes in April

By: Hannah Barnett, Communications Intern

Patient advocacy organizations work tirelessly to educate, promote, advocate, and raise awareness and funding for their causes. Awareness months give us the opportunity to rally around a common objective and show these organizations how much we appreciate their work. Here’s how you can help advance these NHC members’ missions and spread awareness.

Sjögren’s Syndrome Awareness Month

Sjögren’s Syndrome is one of the most prevalent but lesser known autoimmune diseases. During Sjögren’s Syndrome Awareness Month, the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation (SSF) wants to help others visualize what life is like for Sjögren’s patients. With their #ThisisSjogrens awareness campaign, @Sjogrensorg will be posting Sjögren’s facts and patient stories every day this month to give people a better understanding of the seriousness of the disease.

Follow and share SSF’s and other #ThisisSjogrens posts to help #ConquerTheComplexitiesofSjogrens

National Minority Health Awareness Month

Due to cultural risk factors, minority groups are at a high risk for developing heart disease compared to Caucasians. WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease is launching a social media campaign during Minority Health Awareness Month to raise awareness about heart disease in minority women. This year’s theme, Active & Healthy, highlights the health benefits from even small amounts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity throughout the day.

@WomenHeartOrg will be sharing images of its WomenHeart Champions with their personal quotes about why it is important to stay active, healthy, and make every move count.

Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month

Prevent Blindness has designated April as Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month in an effort to educate women about these issues as well as provide recommendations on the best ways to take care of vision. Follow Prevent Blindness at @PBA_savingsight.

National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) (April 21-27)

National Infertility Awareness Week was founded in 1989 by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association and has since become the largest public awareness campaign addressing the public health issue of infertility. The 2019 campaign theme, #InfertilityUncovered, aims to raise awareness about the significant lack of access to family building options and emotional support for the millions of women and men struggling to build a family.

Whether it’s by reading infertility stories or sharing your own, following and retweeting @resolveorg, or adding a twibbon to your profile picture, you can educate and advocate on behalf of the infertility community. Don’t forget to include the hashtag #InfertilityUncovered.

National Primary Immunodeficiency Month and World Primary Immunodeficiency Awareness Week (April 22-29)
April is National Primary Immunodeficiency Month. Follow Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF) on Twitter at @IDFCommunity.

During World Primary Immunodeficiency Week from April 22-29, join the Immune Deficiency Foundation and organizations across the globe to promote awareness of primary immunodeficiency (PI) diseases.

Sign the Global Call to Action, which asks governments around the world to take steps to understand, diagnose, and manage PI diseases in their respective countries.

Meanwhile, don’t forget to like World PI Week on Facebook and follow them on Twitter as they count down the days to #WorldPIWeek. Retweet their posts or use their social media toolkit to educate your followers about primary immunodeficiency diseases.