AN INTERACTIVE GUIDE TO BUILDING ADVOCACY GROUPS
Part II

Getting Your Needs onto the Research Agenda

The most electrifying development in lay groups for medical conditions is participating in initiating, focusing and conducting research. Where support groups once met only to share tips and provide moral support, now they are lobbying Congress for increased appropriations, publishing standards of care for the conditions they support, and working directly with physicians and scientists to design, populate, and report on studies. With this shift, lay advocacy groups have developed a powerful potential to make a significant, positive impact on knowledge about their members' conditions, the availability and efficacy of treatment, and corporate and government policies.

» Educating Your Membership about Research