The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute wishes to thank you, our friends and partners, for your many contributions to the early successes of the COPD Learn More Breathe Better® campaign. We have received great feedback regarding the informal campaign ‘e-mail updates’ distributed over the past few months. In response to your requests, we have developed COPD Learn More Breathe Better® Update!
Update will not only provide you with campaign updates from us, but will spread the word about how your efforts are making a difference.Planning an event for World COPD Day? Giving a talk? Conducting screenings? Not sure how to get started? No matter how big or how small your plans for promoting COPD awareness, you will find something useful in the COPD Resource Kit.
In addition to the fact sheets for patients and those at risk, and the reference card for health providers, the Resource Kit includes a poster to help publicize your event and a brand new educational video.
The 9-minute video on DVD features the stories of three COPD patients and answers basic questions about the disease and its risk factors, and demonstrates how real people took steps to manage this disease and breathe easier. It’s not only for seminars-- it works great in clinical waiting areas, too.
For publicizing your event, or simply spreading the word about COPD among your constituents, you’ll find media relations tips, as well as newsletter and press release templates.
Click here for information about ordering COPD Learn More Breathe Better® materials.
NHLBI has demonstrated its commitment to raising awareness through a targeted national media outreach effort that has garnered 40 million media impressions - the number of people who saw, read, or heard about the campaign in the media - since the launch event in January.
Have you heard? Radio stations across the country have responded to the four public service announcements, which are airing on more than 215 stations in 43 states, including 39 of the top 50 media markets. This adds an additional reach of 343 million media impressions.
In addition, NHLBI’s spokespersons have appeared on or in, several major media outlets: Good Morning America, ABC’s morning news show, The Diane Rehm Show, National Public Radio, Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. June was a busy month for the COPD Learn More Breathe Better® campaign, with several major national media placements, including:
The View : Three million viewers tuned in to watch campaign spokeswoman Grace Anne Dorney Koppel and her husband Ted on The View. Hosts Barbara Walters and Joy Behar conducted the interview which focused on Grace Anne’s diagnosis, treatment, and on-going management of COPD.
Woman’s Day: The July edition of Woman’s Day included a three-page feature on Grace Anne in her own words, describing her personal story about living with COPD.
Retirement Living/Daily Café: Grace Anne and her husband Ted discussed COPD on Daily Café, a news talk program on Retirement Living TV.
From Las Vegas to Philadelphia, the COPD Foundation has been spreading the word about the importance of lung function testing and early diagnosis of COPD with the Mobile Spirometry Unit (MSU).
The MSU is a truck with a trailer equipped to provide free testing by respiratory therapists for those who are symptomatic or at-risk for developing COPD. Since the beginning of the year, the MSU has traveled to 12 cities, administering an average of 650 spirometry tests at each stop at health fairs and expos. Foundation representatives also distribute educational materials, including the COPD Learn More Breathe Better® fact sheets, the Foundation’s publication COPD Digest, and other helpful information.
To find out when the MSU is coming to your area, visit the COPD Foundation Web site.
Vlady Rozenbaum is a COPD patient/advocate and founder of COPD-Alert, an online support and advocacy group for COPD patients, their families, and medical professionals. The online forum focuses on daily living with COPD, treatment options, and advocacy efforts.
To learn more, visit COPD Alert.
Vlady Rozenbaum was diagnosed with COPD in the early 1980s. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with Rita, his wife of 42 years.
Tell us about you! Email us to let us know what your organization is doing on behalf of COPD awareness.