Women's Issue

[Treebywater]

After the Coldwater Campaign that we staged today, I was flipping through Newsweek and ran across a "Go Red" campaign ad. Clearly Heart Disease isn't JUST a women's issue, but it is getting a lot of support and awareness right now becasue of the Go Red campaign appealing to us ladies.

It seems like... the whole 'women's issue' idea is appealing to folks. Was wondering if LC could grab hold of that and run with it, especially in the wake of what happened with Dana Reeves etc.

Since I heard the stats on LC killing almost twice as many women per year as BC, I've thought of this as a 'women's issue.'

What do you think--would that help or hurt the cause? And if the former, how do we grab it and run with it?

[Suzie Q]

Grab it!

It's no accident that cancer funding exploded with the advocacy of the Komen Foundation, started by a WOMAN. Women are, in my opinion, the most tenacious bulldogs in advocating an issue.

I don't mean to exclude the men, but in the end, they will benefit as well, and we certainly welcome any and all assistance in promoting our cause!

~Karen

[RandyW]

I Love Women and hate to see this happen to them. I do believe very strongly that LC is The BC of the new millenium. The reason for lack of funding is the stigmatism which needs to be overlooked.the funding Numbers differ almost 10 to 1. $18,000 per patient for BC to $1,800 for LC Patients. Sorry i am getting dizzy on this darn soapbox.

[ginnyde]

Sounds good, ideas on what to do, how to start? A 'clear' day doesn't do it for me.

Let's post our ideas and see where it goes.

[Linda661]

Can anybody think of something catchy that relates to the LC ribbon? Most of the successful campaigns so far seem to tag onto that. Maybe that's a place to start, though I'm not sure how yet: I think the ribbon is some combo white or off-white with a tan stripe on it if I remember correctly of what I saw at the cancer center a couple of days ago.....it wasn't just one color.

Just a thought,

Linda

[KatieB]

There are alot of ways we can help.

I think unless you have a huge budget, grant money to campaign, that this is something each individual or group must tackle one step at a time.

The "hook" about LC being a "women's issue" has been really prevelant for the last two years and it really is starting to make a difference in the media.

Our very own "Lisa O's " story on ABC national news (Before that, Heather Saler "hebbie", and now Jamie "jyoung20", all the coverage on Dana Reeve, the creation of WALC (Women Against Lung Cancer) which is a great organization, and even Lung Cancer Alliance (formerlly ALCASE) focuses on young non smoking women to raise public attention that this disease affects everyone.

I worked with a producer from the American Legacy Foundation several weeks ago who is putting together a documentary on LC, and explained to her the public "angle" advocacy groups are going in to try to raise awareness and gain media attention in focusing on the non smoking and the women issue.

That said, there is alot we can do.

First off, the ribbon for LC is clear. On car magnets they use the color "white" so that it will show up, but across the board, the color is clear.

What I did one year was get a local store to hang one of my posters. It said..."Do you see me?"...."Lung cancer, the invisible disease..." (with the clear ribbon) and then LCSC's catch phrase, "Lung cancer may only be a breath away, even if you never smoked." And a donation jar at the register.

You can ask other stores to sell clear ribbon cut-outs for a dollar at the register, like they do for MDA and National Childhood Cancers and other diseases, and donate that money to Lungevity or a specific lung cancer research facility like Mary Crowley Medical Research Center or Comprehensive Cancer Center's (with LC Research focus) in your area.

Just wearing our T-Shirts a couple of years ago generated a ton on attention....People would read my shirt, look at me and in shock ask me if I had lung cancer. On a very small scale, it worked.

Here are some other ideas from WALC adn LCA.

*Distribute Women Against Lung Cancer's brochures describing the risk of lung cancer and stories of survival to community businesses and events (email info@womenagainstlungcancer.org or call 608-233-7905 to request brochures).

*Organize a walk, run, bike ride, bake sale, luncheon, barbeque, silent auction, golf outing, or other community event to raise lung cancer awareness as a women's issue and donate the proceeds to lung cancer research. Get local businesses to sponsor the event for media coverage.

Contact the Media

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve got an important story to tell about lung cancer.

Getting the media to cover stories and information about lives touched by lung cancer is vital. It will help patients, survivors, and caregivers bring the disease to light.

The more publicly involved and visible lung cancer is, the more we can shift a public attitude of blaming people with lung cancer to one of encouraging compassion for them.

Compared with other cancers and diseases that cause far fewer deaths each year, lung cancer research is woefully under funded by the federal government.

Your personal experience and persistence in stating the facts can lead to media coverage of topics that should be of national concern. After all, even if all smoking stopped tomorrow, lung cancer would be with us for decades.

Tell your story:

Here are some suggestions to help you organize and present your thoughts:

Decide which personal story or situation involving someone with lung cancer affects you most and why. So many of the large issues in the world become more real through personal accounts.

Write down what you know from your own life.

Broaden your story's impact by adding some key lung cancer facts plus other information you gather from respected sources.

State your goals. These could include: faster development of effective and affordable lung cancer screening methods, more research funding for better treatments, broader access to good medical care, less blaming of people who have lung cancer, meaningful FDA regulation of tobacco products, and serving the needs of people who may be especially affected by lung cancer.

Keep your message short and target it well. Print space is limited and airtime expensive, so be brief but persuasive.

E-mail, fax, or send your opinion or story to newspaper and magazine editors, television and radio talk show hosts. Not sure who to send things to? Call the media outlet and explain the subject matter. Ask who covers the health/social issues/metro/lifestyle beat.

Follow up a few days later and speak with the reporter or leave word that you called. Many media outlets do not respond to submissions, but don't be discouraged. Call again the next month or whenever other cancer stories or major illnesses are covered. Keep trying. Thank them for considering your story. Write special thanks when any lung cancer coverage appears and suggest another topic they could present, too.

http://www.newsdirectory.com/

[tatlyn]

As a woman who was involved for many years with a men's issue, more specifically, *Father's Rights*, I was confronted regularly with just how powerful women's lobbies/advocates, associations and the like are. They can and do move mountains and they were able, over the course of just a few decades, to so firmly entrench feminist political views into the family court system that it was turned almost completely on it's head and resulted in an almost systemic bias against Father's. Women's issues are very appealing (read politically correct) and they are especially so to the, *new generation* of men, who, as PC mandates, are kinder, gentler and more evolved then the previous generation's of, *good 'ole boy's* (not that I personally believe men had to be mandated to be nice ), it's a societal thing and I'm thinking more along the line's however of *men of power*, whose best interest's are served by being politically correct. The majority of influence in the corporate world is still held by men. So, what the heck does this all have to do with lung cancer? It's my long winded way of agreeing with, Treebywater. I think *lung cancer* as a women's issue would generate more mileage as in, high profile recognition, endorsements, fundraising, etc., etc.

In that light, and I apologize if the information is here somewhere, but I was wondering if there has ever been some type of poll of this forum's members' which would give us certain statistics such as; number of women member's with lung cancer as well as smoking history; never smoked, smoked but had quit for *X* number of years prior to diagnoses? With three thousand plus members (and I recognize that not all are active members), still, the results could maybe be a fair statistical sampling? In any event, I would be curious. Do other's think this would be a good thing to know, even as just a reference that could be used in *letter writing campaigns* as in, "I am a member of a lung cancer support forum where *X%* of members' are women who never smoked or women who did smoke but had quit *x* number of years previous?" I think citing these kinds of figures...including lung cancer patients' who are represented here by other family members...rather than national numbers, could make the letters more personal. Is anyone interested in starting up a poll?

I'm also curious, since the subject has been raised here, how does the idea sit with our very special and dear men members?...who I would never want to feel like they were somehow being excluded in this topic.

[KatieB]

The idea of statistical sampling from the membership here on this website has been brought up before.

While it is a SUPER idea in theory, here is why it can't be done. Not only is manpower an issue (we have no staff) in terms of gathering the information from every member, but the statistics themselves would be extremely skewed- which is something we really must avoid.

According to national statistics, LCSC is not representative of the lung cancer population at large.

The membership here consist of a population that can afford computers and internet service- which eliminates a certain economic population, there is also a majority here that are of a technological generation, which eliminates many elderly who do not utilize the internet at all or this website. Also, there is one statistic that states that african american men are the highest group of lung cancer patients and you can "see" by our membership that that race is really not represented here at all!

I do absolutely agree with the Lung Cancer Alliance and WALC with their marketing strategy to focus on LC as a rising "women's" issue and to emphasize that non smokers are at risk to show the public at large that LC does not descriminate and that there is a desperate need for more research and funding.

Keep being loud and we will be heard!

[tatlyn]

Thanks Katie, I can see from your reasons that results from any poll that might be done here would not be considered to be a representative sampling. Still curious though if the data might be desired for informational purposes and uses by other members here, such as letter writing campaigns as I mentioned? I guess the simplest way to collect it would be through posting a message which would include smoking history or lack thereof. The user of the information would collect the data. Of course, participation would determine the usefulness.

[RandyW]

Regarding the Men Folk here I myself have stated my thoughts above. I love women especially My DebKins especially since I do not get to hear her voice or see that loving smile except in a picture. Getting Misty eyed ya know. I stated my thoiughts and I agree we need to do something here and give Susan G Komen a run for the money.

[blaze100]

Personally I would like a car magnet that somehow identifies me and other non-smokers as LC survivor who never smoked.

I know maybe it is not PC, but the more the public is exposed to the non-smoker LC connection, the better our chances of getting additional $$$ for LC research. You might recall the public concern when teenagers were getting HIV from going to dentist etc.

I apologize now if this upsets anyone, not my intention. "WE" all know no one deserves LC, but seventy-five percent of the population are non-smokers and most think this excludes them from getting LC. We could generate more public concern (or fear) if they see non-smoker LC survivors on the road everyday. Just a thought.

Barb