Families Fighting Flu

Flu champion program: the Flu champion program continued to be elevated by the organization by expanding engagement with member Families, advocates, volunteers, healthcare professionals, school nurses, and other partners to help broaden the audience outreach with education and advocacy activities on national, regional, and local levels.the organization continued to create new flu-related educational materials and social media resources that focused on adolescents, those with chronic conditions, those over 65 years old, and for pregnant women. The organization launched a second annual influencer campaign, working with eleven influencers to expand knowledge of how serious the Flu can be and the importance of taking symptoms seriously. The campaign broadened fff's outreach and expanded the demographic reach to individuals with health disparities.program services accomplishments:the organization enhanced all current materials and resources, including pieces to target underserved communities. The organization continued to enhance advocacy toolkits with more digital resources for advocates. Educational materials were provided in both hard copy and digital formats. During 2023, educational materials were improved to include more family stories and translated into spanish when possible. During the 2023 Flu season, thousands of pieces of hard copy and digital materials were distributed. In addition, family stories were shared through national and state social media campaigns, print and live media interviews, and several live and recorded events and webinars. The audience included the general public, parents, caregivers, adolescents, and healthcare professionals. Our reach exceeded millions, and working with trusted advocates has helped us reach more individuals in communities with health disparities.

Stay in the game public education: stay in the game, the organization's multi-year national public education campaign, reached a larger audience with information about the seriousness of influenza and the critical importance of annual Flu vaccination for everyone six months and older.the organization created new flu-related educational materials that focused on schools, colleges, and pregnant women. The organization developed new and enhanced social media resources, including translating materials into spanish, when possible to be available digitally. Messaging included Flu facts, statistics, relevant studies, Flu surveillance data, and stories of Families and individuals severely affected by influenza reaching an overall audience of over 650 million people through the sharing of personal family stories on traditional media (broadcast and print publications) and speaking engagements.stakeholders presented the organization's message both live and virtually to audiences across the country. Member Families and the fff junior board participated in multiple campaigns to illustrate the seriousness of Flu and the importance of raising awareness throughout the 2023 Flu season, including december 2023 during national influenza week. The organization promoted and supported advocacy efforts in multiple states to raise awareness in underserved communities and all communities about the disease burden of Flu and the importance of strong public health policies related to immunization.the organization distributed weekly issues of a newsletter called weekly Flu news to stakeholders, partners, and general advocates in the organization's database, with the intention of sharing timely flu-related information about Flu surveillance, research and activity. The organization profiled over 70 family stories on the fff website and used these stories in various communications campaigns on multiple platforms with various partners to illustrate the seriousness of Flu and the importance of Flu prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.