I know I need to communicate with my elected representative, but how?

This is a Democracy kids, everyone has a voice! Don't forget to use yours!

Check out this list of 10 helpful tips to assist you in communicating with your elected official. The article was originally published by the our Washington Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Association. I've updated for Oregon.

http://www.waoma.org/members/getpolitical.cfm

If you don't make your voice heard…who will?

In the spirit of promoting direct action we encourage all those interested in promoting alternative medicine in Oregon to contact the legislature with concerns and ideas by offering the following links to easily identifying who your representatives are and how to contact them with your input. Prompting our legislative representatives directly on how we want them to represent us is an effective way to do this. The internet makes the ideal of a representative government more of a reality by facilitating fast and easy communication, we need only to take the time to use! Locate your representative by your address:

http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/

Once you've found your representative, pick a topic you care about that affects your community and put it in writing! Even better, go to Salem or Washington, D.C. to have a meeting with your representative, and take your friends and neighbors for added effect. Do keep in mind that our legislators in Salem are in session right now. They probably won't have much in the way of free time, so if you don't get an appointment, write a letter. And if you do, expect it to be short, and don't be late!


10 Tips To A Productive Meeting With Your Legislator

Make an appointment. The best way to contact your legislator can vary depending on whether the Legislature is in session or out of session.

During session, use their Salem phone number or e-mail. Out of session, for issues, or meeting and educating, the same, except that sometimes a legislator will have a district office. That information is usually on the Salem voice mail. For campaign related contacts, use their campaign contact information only. Do not use their Salem contact numbers.

Know your goal. For alternative medicine practitioners, an excellent goal would be to educate legislators on the important role you play in the health care delivery system. Give them examples of the cost effective care that you provide. Also, speak to them about the importance of retaining every category of provider.

Remember that legislators are people too. There is an incredible bias in our society against "politicians." But what defines a politician? It's just someone who has decided that they care enough about what's happening to run for office. The vast majority take their responsibility very seriously and want to make a difference. Approaching them from that perspective will yield the best results.

Be prepared as best as possible, and then, if a legislator has a question you don't know how to answer, just simply say you don't, and you'll get back to them. Part of being prepared is knowing something about the legislator, what party are they a member of, how long have been in office, what's their background, etc.

Be aware of time constraints. During a session, appointments are approximately 15 minutes. During the interim, they can be about an hour. It's a great advantage to meet during the interim, especially initially.

Listen carefully, speak thoughtfully. If you find something to disagree about, be polite. You can still be a good advocate for your position and be "smart" about how you deliver your message. You don't want to burn a bridge. Sometimes legislators need some education so that they understand the significance of an issue.

Know that if you're meeting with a legislator who is up for election, you can expect to be asked to help with their campaign, or make a contribution. Think through your answer ahead of time.

After the meeting send a thank you note. Not only is it a good way to say "thank you," but it's also a chance to restate some of the points you wanted to emphasize, or follow up on questions that you didn't have the answer for earlier.

OBNE Public Meeting, April 6

Today I headed over to the public meeting of OBNE (the Oregon Board of Naturopathic Examiners). A few of the highlights are listed below, and minutes to this (and all other public meetings) can be found at http://www.oregon.gov/OBNE/BOARD.shtml

I. Legislative Updates: Thinking the meeting started later I missed the legislative update. However, SB 327 which "modernizes" the ND formulary was being voted on in the Senate today and will likely go to the house soon. Make sure to contact your representative if you have an opinion about this bill, or even better, if you have personal experience with the formulary. Read the text of the bill here if you are interested. More comments from Holistic Health Law to come.

II. To increase or not to increase ND CME hour requirements... That is the question.
In order to set the national bar for ND quality the board is considering raising the number of required CE hours from 25 to 30 or 35. This discussion involved the weighing of many factors and all agreed that the issue was not urgent and could be brought up at the next meeting on June 1, 2009. A few of the major considerations are improving the ethics education of NDs, how to make sure new practitioners can afford to get the credits, the administrative costs of approving CE courses, and the ability of NDs to take increased hours in on-line CE courses. As the meetings are public after 10:30 am or so anyone may come to voice his or her opinion on the matter. Emails can also be sent to the board to communicate an opinion.

III. Miscellaneous scope of practice issues:
a) Vasectomies will likely be considered within the scope of an NDs practice because they should be considered minor surgery.

b) Lipolysis will also likely be considered within the scope of an NDs practice because it is likewise considered a minor surgery.

c) Assisted suicide is NOT within an NDs scope of practice or even close.

d) Employee-provided IV therapy: An ND raised the question of whether or not s/he can hire and train employees to administer IV therapy and kelation therapy. The board asserts that so long as the employee is under "direct supervision" this is permitted. "Direct Supervision" is defined by OAR 850-010-0005 (3). ”Direct Supervision” means that a licensed Naturopathic physician is physically present in the clinic, is monitoring and directly responsible for activities of supervised person, and is available to intervene if necessary.

e) More investigation is required to address two additional questions regarding, first, POLST, and second, ND provision of special education assessment.

The meeting ended approximately 1:30 pm.