Oftentimes, when we hear the word “advocacy” we think about attending a BAYADA-sponsored lobby day in a state capitol or visiting a legislator’s local office to ask him or her to support or oppose a piece of legislation. While both those options are in fact forms of advocacy, they’re not the only ones.
North Carolina client Dimpal Patel recently joined Hearts for Home Care, a program that BAYADA’s Government Affairs Office began to get clients, families, staff members, and the community at-large more engaged in legislative advocacy. She expressed that she wanted to get involved, but as an individual with a trach, vent, and wheelchair, she would need a lot of assistance traveling to advocate in person.
The Hearts for Home Care team immediately encouraged her to reach out to her local paper by submitting a short opinion piece about her thoughts on home care. She shared an insightful take on how her nurses enabled her to live on campus and graduate from UNC Charlotte, as well as how important Medicaid is for her and so many others that rely on home care.
The Gaston Gazette received her piece, but instead of publishing it, they sent a reporter to Dimpal’s home to get a better look at how home care impacts her life first-hand. The reporter spoke with Dimpal and her nurse, Amy, about the importance of legislators’ mindfulness of continued Medicaid funding—and her story made the paper’s front page!
“I’ve always wanted to get more involved in advocacy because I think it’s important that our state and federal decision makers hear our voice and understand how important home care is in our communities… but I was always worried because I can’t get to the state capitol or to legislative hearings as easily as others can. I’m grateful that Hearts for Home Care has given me the tools to help me begin my advocacy journey from home,” Dimpal told us recently.
Home care by its very nature often helps those with limited mobility to live a full life and remain at home. That’s why the Hearts for Home Care team developed a robust menu of advocacy activities—so that anyone who wants to get involved in advocacy can! Reaching out to legislators via traditional media or social media, calling into a town hall, sending a newspaper clipping or an email are just a few of the many ways individuals can advocate from their own home.
In today’s world elected officials and regular individuals alike are bombarded with messages, from advertisements on the bus to a long social media newsfeed, all the way to robotic phone calls and junk mail. It’s important that we take a step back to cut through the noise to deliver our advocacy message to state and federal decision makers: Home care is important to me, and it should be important to you too.
For more information on how you, your colleagues, or your clients can share your voice in advocacy, please email [email protected] or sign up to join Hearts for Home Care today!