Local PR is Effective PR Guidebook

Knowledge is Power



Materials You Should Have On-Hand

  1. Respiratory Care & AARC Information
    You should have fact sheets available on each of the categories listed below for use in writing press releases, replying to press inquiries and triggering other publicity ideas. A fact sheet is a brief outline (usually one page) or summary of information. This is an every-angle list; this will take time to compile, but once you have the contacts for the various items, updating your fact sheets will be much easier and reporters will know you are an excellent one-stop source for respiratory care information.

    1. Schools (in your state or locale) that offer RC training
      1. How many students enrolled?
      2. Who is the best administrator/instructor to list as a contact or spokesperson for more information about the profession? You may have different spokespeople for different areas.
      3. Do any of the schools offer particularly unusual courses, degrees, or clinical training?
    2. Hospitals
      1. Which hospitals have RC Departments?
      2. Who is the RC contact person at each?
      3. How large is the RC staff at each? How many RTs at all the hospitals combined?
      4. Which facilities offer special services or special equipment?
      5. Have any hospitals recently acquired new advanced RC equipment?
      6. Which hospitals run special programs for the public? (COPD support groups, Asthma camps)
    3. Career opportunities—source visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics for more info.
      1. How many RTs are employed in your state (approximately)?
      2. What are the salary ranges?
      3. Are there any training or educational requirements in your state for RC practitioners?
      4. How many RC job opportunities are there now, or in an average year, in your state (or in specific hospitals, as examples)?
      5. Does your State Society offer career counseling or materials?
      6. Where can people obtain information on RC career opportunities? www.aarc.org/career
    4. Programs and services offered by RTs in your area (provide contacts)
      1. Smoking cessation clinics
      2. Diagnosis and treatment clinics for COPD patients
      3. Occupational health screening clinics
      4. Pulmonary self-care programs
      5. Pulmonary rehabilitation clinics
      6. Asthma camps for children
      7. Emergency transport services
      8. Home care
    5. Schedule of special events
    6. Information on RC issues--matters of concern to RTs
      1. Smoking
      2. Exercise
      3. Clean air — YourLungHealth.org
      4. Professional credentialing, state licensure
      5. Quality of life, issues for patients
      6. Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement
      7. Health care cost containment
      8. Respiratory care outside the hospital setting
      9. Trends/upcoming changes in the RC profession
      10. Health care reform
      11. Managed care
    7. AARC national background information and fact sheet

What We Want to Say: The AARC Public Relations Message

Creating a message that paints a picture is called branding. Brands are the pictures that present character traits (trustworthy, honest, quality-driven) an entity wants the public, its peers and related industries to identify with it. There is usually a specific brand message for each audience and then an overall brand message that covers everything. That overall brand message gets repeated across the board; it's the heart of the entity's image. The overall brand message that the AARC wants to convey was developed by the AARC Blue Ribbon Panel on Public Relations and states:

Respiratory therapists are professional providers of quality health care to all age groups in hospitals, alternate sites and in the home.

Who We Want to Reach - Our Audience

The AARC has a number of different audiences and publics. At any given time, the AARC directs public relations activities and communications to these audiences, often to multiple audiences at the same time and even with the same core message. Nevertheless, the AARC often communicates to some of these audiences at the same time with different messages.

The list of audiences can be divided into thirteen major categories: AARC Leadership, AARC Members, Prospective Members, American Respiratory Care Foundation, Patients/Lay Caregivers, General Public, Health Care Community, Employers, Payers, Government, Education/Educators, Industry, and Competitiors.

Internal Audiences

  1. AARC Leadership
    1.  Board of Directors
    2.  House of Delegates
    3.  Political Advocacy Contact Teams (PACT)
    4.  Political Action Committee (PAC)
    5.  State Society Presidents
    6.  Appointed Official Representatives to External Organizations
    7.  AARC Committees
    8.  AARC Staff  
  2. AARC Members
    1. Associate
    2. Plus
    3. Active
    4. Section
    5. Student
    6. International
    7. All Categories of Electronic Mail Recipients
  3. Prospective Members
    1. Those who are in the profession
    2. Those who are in related professions
  4. American Respiratory Care Foundation
    1. Board of Directors
    2. Donors/Philanthropists
    3. Award Sponsors
    4. Award Recipients

External Audiences

  1. Patients/Lay Caregivers
    1. AARC Consumer Roundtable (CR)
      1. AARC YourLungHealth.org Website
      2. AARC Consumers Buyers Guide
    2. Patient Information Organizations (PIO's)
      1. COPD Foundation
      2. COPD Coalition
      3. NECA
      4. LTOT Network
      5. VENT-USERS-LIST Discussion Group
      6. NLHEP
      7. National Emphysema Foundation (NEF)
      8. Pulmonary Education and Research Foundation (PERF)
      9. Alpha-1 Association
      10. Alpha-1 Foundation
      11. ATS Public Advisory Roundtable (PAR)
      12. American Sleep Apnea Association
      13. ARDS Foundation of Illinois
      14. Asthma & Alloergy Foundation of America
      15. Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis
      16. Coalition for Pulmonary Patients Care
      17. COPD-Alert
      18. EFFORTS (Emphysema Foundation for Our Right to Survive)
      19. LAM Foundation
      20. National Home Oxygen Patients Association
      21. Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
      22. Pulmonary Hypertension Association
    3. Consumer Newsletters
      1. Pulmonary Paper
      2. Respiratory News and Views
      3. Second Wind
  2. General Public
    1. General Press
      1. Health Care Reporters
      2. National Print & Broadcast
      3. Local Print & Broadcast
    2. Health and Wellness
      1. American Legacy Foundation
      2. Larger Consumer Publications on fitness and Health
  3. Health Care Community
    1. Professional Associations
      1. American Academy of Sleep Medicine
      2. American College of Chest Physicians (Sponsoring Organization)
        1. American College of Health Care Executives
        2. American Heart Association
        3. American Lung Association
      3. American Thoracic Society (Sponsoring Organization)
      4. American Society of Anesthesiologists (Sponsoring Organization)
      5. American Academy of Pediatrics
      6. Health Professions Network
      7. Society of Critical Care Medicine (Sponsoring Organization)
      8. Others

 


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