WE HONOR VETERANS How to be an Advocate

What do we mean by “Advocate”? Knowledgeable Passionate Engaged Focus of Advocacy can be different audiences: Policy makers Public Industry To whoever has the power the help

Advocacy: Policy Makers Why Policy Makers? They have the power to help your patients Veterans Administration: funded and controlled by Congress VA Administrator: chosen by President, confirmed by Congress Because they have power, they must be EDUCATED

Staff Perspective: What Makes a Good Advocate? Informative/Confrontational Professional/Inappropriate Persistent/Annoying Connected to the Community/Self-promoter Goal of a great advocate: Make the Staffer’s life easier!

Steps to Effective Advocacy Education Educate yourself on who your policy makers are Federal One Representative for your specific district in the US House Two state-wide Senators Find Your Legislator Educate Policy Makers on Veterans Needs The We Honor Veterans Program exists! How this helps Veterans and families What needs you see that are unmet

Steps to Effective Advocacy Relationship Building Policy makers and their staff should know who you are, and trust what you say Policy makers and their staff should know you BEFORE you ask them to do something for you Policy makers should understand the WHV Program and be able to reach out to you if/when they have needs or questions This does not come by sending one or two form emails a year. Requires repeated personal touch. We recommend 4 “touches” per year. Personal email or phone call Personal meeting in district/state or DC Invitation to an event and/or tour of your facility Community event: Townhall meeting, Memorial Day Parade, other event Policy Maker participates in within your community

More on Education Follow your Legislators on Social Media! Learn where they are, what they’re interested in, what other things they’re working on Tweet/FB at them with important issues and information Follow and use #hpm, #eol, #hospice, #palliative to see what’s going on in the community.

Staff Perspective: Social Media Does your boss pay attention to social media posts? How many posts on a topic do there need to be before your boss is alerted to it? How often does your boss interact with constituents on social media?

Steps to Effective Advocacy The “Ask” After you have built a relationship and educated Policy makers about WHV, what happens when you need something specific? Could be a Policy “Ask”, or something else? Ex: Veteran is searching for missing Purple Heart Many times, the “Ask” is, “Please support ____ bill in Congress.” Sometimes, it is “Please oppose____bill in Congress.” Must be CLEAR about your ask!

Great Advocacy Opportunities: Hosting an Event We Honor Veterans Honor Ceremonies Designed around the needs of patients and families Could be intimate and small, or public and large Ideally, something you are already doing Important role for Legislator: To Honor a Veteran on behalf of the US Government

Staff Perspectives: What is a good “Ask”? Known Source/Random Unaffiliated Person Personalized/Automated Realistic/Unrealistic Tips for Success

WHV Honor Ceremony As soon as your dates are set, make the invitation to the Legislator ASAP! Schedules fill up months in advance, and change frequently A Staffer may fill in if the Legislator themselves are not available An invitation template is available on our website If you can be flexible, invite the Legislator FIRST, and find out when they are available, and plan around their schedule Can be difficult to balance with patient/family needs. Who do I contact? The State Scheduler and Veterans Affairs Staffer Email info@nhpcohan.org if you need their email addresses YES EMAIL. Snail mail takes too long. A follow up phone call is great as well.

WHV Honor Ceremonies What if it is a last minute thing? Invite them anyway! In that case, definitely call the District Office. You probably won’t get the Legislator, but Staff are great, too! Make it standard protocol Pick a point person Call HAN! We can help!

WHV Honor Ceremonies Possible Roles for Legislator Many times, you will only get 30min-1hr of the Legislator’s time They do not need to have a role, but if you want to incorporate them into the ceremony: Lead the Pledge of Allegiance Presentation of a Flag Presentation of a Letter of Thanks Say a few closing words Keep the focus on the patient and family

Staff Perspective: Attending Events Why does a Legislator want to attend a WHV Ceremony? What do they want to learn? How does this empower them to work on behalf of Veterans? What is a good, or bad, event? Location Length

After the Event Always send a follow up “Thank You” email to the Legislator and staff. Include any pictures you took of the event Share pictures and brief written explanation of the event with local media Share pictures and commentary on your social media platforms, in your newsletter, on your website, etc. Always make sure you have consent from patients and families to share their pictures

Advocacy FAQs What if I don’t like/didn’t vote for my Legislator? It doesn’t matter. They don’t know that, and in this case, you are advocating for your patients and not talking about personal political beliefs We had a great meeting/event, why haven’t they responded to my policy “Ask”? It takes a long time to pass a bill, and it usually takes a few requests before a Legislator will cosponsor a bill. The average Congressman represents 700,000 people, and Senators represent the whole state, so it takes more than one or two people to contact them and convince them to support or oppose a bill.

Advocacy FAQs I’m a small program, and I’m already overworked. How can I be an advocate and still sleep? That is what HAN is for! Read our monthly emails, respond to our Action Alerts, and make it a regular part of your policy to invite your Members of Congress to events at your program. Keep HAN informed about what you need, and how we can help!

Overview Four “touches” per year to build relationship Personal emails and phone calls Meetings in the district office or in DC Attendance at community events Invitations for Legislators to visit program or attend events Be the trusted “Hospice Expert” for the office Always have a clear “Ask” Use Hospice Action Network for Help!

Questions?