One of the ongoing discussions we have at the office is how do we change public opinion about Alzheimer’s disease? It’s a huge challenge, especially given the plethora of misinformation and stereotypes that circulate within the general population and sometimes even the medical community about the disease. Compound that with the debilitating nature of the disease and the fact that families living with Alzheimer’s are under tremendous amounts of stress. From my marketing slant, I know that showcasing the impact Alzheimer’s has on families and its devastating effects is what will eventually change public opinion. One of our 2010 marketing goals is to help give voice to those living with Alzheimer’s. We want people in the early stages sharing their story. This is never a hard sell internally. Getting the media to bite on the other hand is another issue.
Yesterday was a banner day and started with this feature on the front page of the Oregonian, touting the benefits of exercise as a preventative measure in the fight against Alzheimer’s. Then our local CBS affiliate featured a story on participants of our early stage program which tied in to Katie Couric’s feature Where American Stands on Alzheimer’s Disease. Finally, as I tuned in to American Idol (I know it’s a guilty pleasure) they covered a touching story about Katie Steven’s, a young Idol-hopeful whose grandmother has Alzheimer’s. The interaction between Katie and her grandmother were lovely and even Ryan Seacrest teared up when Katie called her grandmother to let her know she was headed to California. MTV is calling her one to watch. Not to worry, I’m already on it and I’ll be watching for more Alzheimer’s coverage this year–helping to change public opinion one story at a time.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Alzheimer's Info, Press. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
