May 19 & 20, 2014 I had the privilege to be part of the team that represented Pennsylvania educators in Washington DC at AADE’s Public Policy Forum. The goal was to ask members of congress or senate to support HR 1274 / S 945. Also part of the team, was Kelli Antinori Lent (Board of Directors & WPLNG) and Bennet Dunlap, founder of Stripsafely.com, Diabetes advocate, Social Media expert and father of 2 living with diabetes. I am inspired any time I have an opportunity to speak with other educators. This trip did not disappoint! 
The Public Policy forum provides a training day and Congressional visit day. The training is invaluable. I know I was intimidated at first, but by the end of Monday my fears were calmed and I was ready to state our position clearly Tuesday for our live meetings. The culture of our government is fascinating to see even for a brief visit. We met with legislative aids and in one office a Congressional Fellow. Do not discount meeting with office staff, these aids, interns & fellows are the backbone of our government. They are the people who provide research, & develop reports, which impact a member’s opinion.
It is so important to make sure the message is clear and not get side tracked. The training day was crucial in understanding that process. Just as we do for our patients, training incorporated many techniques, but I think the session where we could role play helped me the most; an opportunity to practice before Tuesday.
The message is very simple: People with Diabetes need better access to credentialed educators & Diabetes educators can save the system money by reducing costs in enhanced therapy adherence, prevent hospital admissions and increased productivity.
Advocacy cannot stop with this one visit to Washington. Now we have the opportunity to make an impact locally. August is when Congress is out of session and everyone is home. You are encouraged to make appointments in the local offices, speak with the aids that advise your representative or senator. Make sure they know who we are and how we can be the diabetes expert. Recently some members from WPLNG met with aids from both Senators Toomey and Casey’s local office. Casey has offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Scranton, Erie, Bellefonte and Allentown while Toomey has offices in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Erie, Scranton, Johnstown, Allentown & Harrisburg. Visits can be made to members of the House in your local towns.
Bennet Dunlap and I are outside Allyson Schwartz office.
Kellie, Bennet, Heather Menne (Congressional Fellow) & me outside Senator Casey's office.
Other resources: Advocacy Center on the My AADE Network: http://www.myaadenetwork.org/p/co/ly/gid=287
I encourage everyone to ask your federal legislators to "Co-Sponsor" HR 1274 or S 945.