It will take more than just a few people to raise awareness about IC. Every patient out there should take a moment to look at their community, their state and country and ask themselves “what do we need here to better serve IC patients?” Are your doctors educated enough about IC? If not, then let’s try to change that by bringing an CME course to the area. Are community members and/or employers compassionate to the needs of patients? If not, then let’s try to get some stories in a local newspaper that encourage compassion and support.

You are the eyes and ears of your community and, more importantly, what you do today will influence how IC patients the future are treated. Do you want any more patients to be told that IC is all in their heads? Do you want more women to undergo completely inappropriate hysterectomies only to discover that their pain is coming from their bladders?? Do you want children with IC to be punished by their teachers for asking to use the restroom?? If not, then let’s do something about it. WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER!

Nine Easy Ways You Can Be Involved

1. SHARE OUR POSTERS

One of the easiest things you can do is just put up our poster at your local church, coffee shop or, better yet, send it to all of your doctors and ask them to post it so that other patients can learn about IC. Print out and share our official poster

2. FACEBOOK, TWEET, PINTEREST & INSTAGRAM IT UP!

Share the campaign website (https://www.icawareness.org) Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram pages!

We also have Facebook Profile and Timeline pictures that you can use!

3. DARE THE PRESS TO COVER PAIN & IC/BPS

Ask your local newspaper to do a story on IC and IC Awareness Month. We’ve prepared a simple, two page press release you can send to them, ideally with a paragraph about your own personal story. Newspapers love to discuss how lives have been changed, for better or for worse. You can use your own name or ask them to use a pseudonym. Download the official press release here!

4. PATIENT CONTESTS NOW OPEN – GREAT PRIZES

5. HIT UP LOCAL RADIO & TV STATIONS

Radio and TV stations love to do public service announcements! We’ve got four scripts that can be used for a simple, easy PSA to share info on IC. Sample public service announcements

6. DONATE AN IC BOOK TO YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY

If you tried to get information on IC and visited your local library, you probably found ZILCH! Yes, that’s right, most public libraries do not carry books on IC unless a patient or a support group donates one or two. So, think about making a gift of a book to a local library! Click here for some book ideas!

7. START A SUPPORT GROUP OR SUPPORT ONE NEAR YOU!

Donate to a local support group that is serving IC patients – They can use stamps, cash or even book donations for low income patients. If there’s no group near you, please start one. Learn how in the ICN Support Group Resource Center.