Family Voices

Family Voices, a nonprofit dedicated to family centered care for children and youth with special healthcare needs (CYSHCN), has launched a collaborative campaign with CDC that aims to inform parents and caretakers about the importance of flu vaccination among people in this group. This collaboration helped reach a new audience with critical messaging about the importance of flu prevention – a major achievement for the campaign.

This most recent collaboration between CDC and Family Voices was inspired by the startling results of a survey co-developed by CDC and Family Voices and administered through Family-to-Family Health Information Centers and Family Voices’ network of affiliates in 2013. The survey found that only half of children with neurologic and neurodevelopmental conditions were being vaccinated against the flu each year and that many pediatricians did not recognize intellectual disability as a high-risk condition for the flu.

The campaign, which debuted in September 2013, involves a variety of traditional and digital media, ranging from a series of tweets and an online webinar with CDC’s Dr. Georgina Peacock to multilingual posters and fact sheets that contain information about flu prevention.

A key component of the campaign is a flu-centered media toolkit designed for use by online publications, Family-to-Family Health Information Centers, and other organizations both inside and outside Family Voices’ network of grassroots organizations. The toolkit includes a collection of sample social media posts, fact sheets, posters, web buttons, and a sample newsletter. As of January 8, 2013, the toolkit has been accessed by nearly 600 visitors.

To access the media toolkit, visit FLU & Children / Youth with Special Health Care Needs. If you are interested in learning more about Family Voices or partnering with the organization on current or future initiatives, please contact Nora Wells, Co-Director, Family Voices National Center for Family Professional Partnerships, (NWells@familyvoices.org) or visit familyvoices.org or fv-ncfpp.org.