Measure CP & Social Media Outreach Fight the Silent Killer

“The Silent Killer”

Sound scary? It should.

Ovarian cancer, known among medical personnel as the “silent killer” is the most fatal type of female reproductive cancer. Approximately 14,000 women die of ovarian cancer each year, making it the fifth most fatal cancer overall.

For Kimberly Nasief-Westergren of Measure CP, a customer experience management, brand auditing and mystery shopping firm, these statistics are personal. Her mother passed away from ovarian cancer earlier this year.

For this reason, Measure CP fully supports ovarian cancer research and public education.

Ovarian cancer is known as the silent killer because many women aren’t diagnosed until it’s too late. The symptoms of ovarian cancer are so mild, they are frequently overlooked or misdiagnosed.

Some common symptoms include:
·         Bloating
·         Lower abdominal pain
·         Abnormal menstrual cycles
·         Constipation
·         Indigestion
·         Gas
·         Weight gain or loss
·         Vaginal bleeding
·         Feeling full quickly after eating
·         Excessive hair growth
·         Excessive urination

It’s easy to see how these symptoms can be misdiagnosed. Bloating, indigestion and gas are frequently diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome while lower abdominal pain and excessive urination are common signs of a urinary tract infection.

For this reason, many public relations campaigns are working to help educate the public on the symptoms and risks of ovarian cancer. A woman who knows the symptoms and risks is much more likely to get tested and treated early on, thus dramatically increasing her chance for survival.

Public education is just one of the goals of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.
To help women better identify the symptoms of ovarian cancer and asses the risk, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance has created a smartphone app. The Ovarian Cancer Symptom Diary App allows women to track any symptoms they may be experiencing and create a personal risk file.

The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance also hosts a series of webinars aimed at helping women become more involved in their healthcare. Topics covered include health care reform, clinical trials and how to get involved with cancer fighting organizations. The most recent webinar covered the link between genetics and ovarian cancer. The video is still available on the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance’s site for those who wish to see it.

In addition to working to educate the public, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance works as advocates. The organization works with federal policy makers including the president of the United States, Congress, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The goal of all the lobbying the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance does is to reduce the number of women who die each year from ovarian cancer. The organization accomplishes this in two ways. The first is by pushing for increased funding for ovarian cancer research and awareness programs. The second is by pushing for legislation that will improve the quality of care available to cancer patients.

Measure CP is proud to support the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance and their noble cause.

To show your support of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, please share this article on Facebook or Twitter.

Social Media Outreach Paying It Forward

Social Media Outreach provides a social platform from which to promote causes of interest to consumers and organizations, who are communicating within social media.   We are a community of people who join to create a strong hand with the ability to reach out and help others in need. You can help too.  Become a friend within Social Media Outreach on WordPress, like the Social Media Outreach Community Page on Facebook, pass information along on blogs like Blogger, Typepad and comment on videos on YouTube. Promote your cause here too.  Begin your Twitter posts with Social Media Outreach : and state your cause.   Update your profile on Linked In with updates which begin with Social Media Outreach : and post a link to your cause.  Join groups and encourage the use of social media to make a difference.

Consumers are communicating in social media.  We have the power to make a difference in our communities, on the streets, and by word of mouth.  Brands begin and end with consumer endorsements, because we trust recommendations of each other, rather than choose to follow advice of brand advertising.  Make no mistake about it, the power of social media community is influencing brand marketing efforts.

Brand marketers are using social media to open lines of communication with consumers.  When consumers post a message on social media brand pages, such as WordPress, Facebook, Blogger, and YouTube, brands are responding.  Consumers are leading brand development discussions, customer service policy, and marketing strategy.   We can make or break a brand, with exponential power of the written word of mouth.  According to EPM Communications, 2010 research on How Americans Use Social Media and How Brands Communicate With Consumers on Facebook, Twitter & Other Networks, “More than 144 million Americans logged onto a social media site in March of 2010.   More than seven in 10 adults have a profile on Facebook, and nearly two in 10 visit Twitter.  Teens and tweens are more likely than adults to have a profile, but older adults are the fastest growing audience on social networks.  Nearly a third of Baby Boomers who use social media created their accounts in the second half of 2009.”

We are a powerful segment of population.  Print mediums are diminishing in use, while online media, especially social media, is growing at exponential rates.  So how are we using social media?  Are we using it for the better good?  Will we grow from our experiences, as we show the world what we expect brands and media to be, through our assistance in building them?   According to our same resource at EPM Communications, “The vast majority of those who use social media do so to maintain their personal relationships, with a few using it primarily for business networking.  Nearly two thirds have reconnected with someone from their past via a social network.  Almost half say that social media have enabled them to meet people and a third feel empowered by social media.”

Social Media Outreach would like to see you embrace the empowerment  you feel through your involvement with social media, to make a difference this year.  If there is one new year’s resolution you stick with, please make it to use social media to do something good for this world.

Through Social Media Outreach you can make a difference by paying it forward.  Promote your cause at the bottom of your posts, on your Facebook page, on YouTube, and begin to retweet posts on Twitter when you see them begin with Social Media Outreach.

Social Media Outreach : Together We Make a Difference.

Related articles

• Social Media: What Do You Want Them to See? (social-marketing-spot.blogspot.com)