Our 6 Beds 2019 Annual Advocacy Day and trip to the California State Capitol may be over, but your advocacy must continue throughout the year if it is to be effective. The only way for us to achieve our collective advocacy goals is for us to make our voices be heard individually on an ongoing basis. Successful advocacy efforts are rarely, if ever, one-time events. They are built on shaping public policy through consistent messaging and relationship building over time.
What should you advocate for?
Each time you have the opportunity to meet with, or interact with, a leader or influencer, there are three important messages to relay:
- 6 Beds and its members support safe and affordable, quality residential care.
- 6 Beds and its members’ facilities play a critical role in our state’s healthcare structure.
- 6 Beds and its members support commonsense legislation that protects seniors and allows facilities to continue providing the level of safe and affordable care our customers expect.
Who should you be advocating to?
Advocacy is simply equipping those in positions of influence with the information they need to affect good public policy. Your target audiences should include:
- State legislators — who can enact legislation that positively supports our work or negatively impacts the work we do.
- Local elected officials — who can pass local regulations and ordinances that affect our facilities and those we serve. (Don’t forget, many local elected officials later run for the state assembly or senate.)
- Key opinion leaders — These are the influencers in your communities whose voice has the ability to shape the opinions of others.
- Public — Don’t forget the public helps shape policy too through their votes and support or opposition to candidates and policies.
Advocacy Day 2019
Our thanks go out to the legislators and agency staff who made our 2019 Advocacy Day such a learning opportunity for all involved. However, if our advocacy efforts are going to result in good public policy that supports our facilities and our clients, we must all work together to deliver these consistent messages to those in positions of influence. Let’s make our voices be heard!
