Submitted by: Lisa Ranes RD CDE, Montana Advocacy Coordinator
Each year AADE hosts a public policy workshop and I have had the privilege to attend the last couple of years. This year when I received the invitation for the 2016 Public Policy workshop I was surprised to see it was in Chicago and not DC. My first thought was what can we get done in Chicago? I was pleasantly surprised how much we can accomplish. The day and half workshop was one of the best I have been to. Our president Hope Warshaw shared AADE 2016-2018 Strategic plan and the why and how we should be engaged in Social Media. I am pleased to see that one of the four key priorities is Valued Based Services for Population Health. The diabetes educator and DSME is population health and we need to be involved in our healthcare systems population health management strategies.
When I left Chicago, I felt energized and more confident about being involved in advocacy. The biggest take away for me was the importance of developing relationships with your legislators. You can become a resource for them and their staff. Let them know who a diabetes educator is and what we do.
AADE’s aim is "20 for 3 in 2017" – and have challenged states to aim for 20 total visits during the year by meeting with different legislators and then we can be entered in a drawing to win 3 registrations to the 2017 AADE annual meeting. Let's do it and begin to connect with our Montana legislators. Our patients and jobs depend on our advocacy efforts. It’s starts with you being a registered voter.
Let us know what you think.