Happy Celiac Awareness Month!
As a social worker I find awareness months difficult, as I feel they bring light to differences rather than similarities (Think Black History Month or Women’s History Month) but for diseases I think they are a very important contributor to public awareness. This is especially true for a disease such as Celiac Disease, which has such a wide range of symptoms and influences on health, impacts 1 in 133 people, and having no boundary in age, gender, or background of those it can effect.
To kick off National Celiac Awareness Month here are some ideas, pointers and resources you might find helpful to spread awareness.
1. Educate others & Share your experiences as an individual with Celiac Disease.
- Talk to friends and relatives about your diagnosis and gluten free life/needs
- Share your reviews of restaurants and products on those businesses websites or other sharing tools
- Share your recipes on Social Media Sites such as Pinterest
- Talk to Family Members about getting tested. Remind them that Celiac Disease is genetic.
- Share the story of your journey to health through diagnosis and following a gluten free diet in person or on social media sites.
- Suggest Celiac Disease and gluten free books, cookbooks, websites, or resources to those who are newly diagnosis, or might want to consider trying a gluten free diet.
2. Advocate for yourself
- If you go to a restaurant that has gluten free options, but doesn’t advertise that they do, suggest that they develop a gluten free menu and speak to managers.
- Inquire with your Local Supermarkets about the gluten free options that they carry, and advocate for new products that you enjoy to be stocked on the shelves.
- Stand up to family members, friends, or servers who might give you issue for being on a gluten free diet, remind them that is not a choice and educate them about the disease.
- Speak to your local government representatives (Senators or Congress members) about food labeling laws, which have been stalled, and stress the importance of these to thousands of Americans. Also suggest that they move for a permanent recognition of May as Natonal Celiac Awareness.
3. Be Visible
- Change your facebook or other social media images to the Celiac Disease ribbon (above) or other similar images.
- Instagram your wonderful gluten free concoctions or experiences.
- Don gluten free related apparel or accessories. An awareness pin, green ribbon pin, or gluten free shorts can go a long way.
- Use hash tags such as #glutenfree #celiacdisease #celiacs #coeliacdisease #gfree #nogluten etc. in your twitter or instagram to gain exposure.
4: Make it Social
- Host a gluten free potluck.
- Put people up to a gluten free challenge, asking them to eat gluten free for a week or weekend and then share their experiences.
- Help family members understand that cooking gluten free isn’t that difficult by sharing gluten free recipes, or modifying family recipes to be gluten free.
- Host a Join, or start, or become a leader of a gluten free support group, to keep the advocacy and awareness going all year round.
These are just a few of my ideas, but there are so many more things you can do to spread awareness.
But most importantly remember, awareness doesn’t have to stop when a month ends!
In the coming weeks I’ll elaborate on some of the above, but in the mean time, what do you do to spread awareness?
Note: It feels like we might have done this in october right? Right. There seems to be much debate about whether Celiac Awareness Month takes place in May or October. October used to be when we celebrated Celiac Awareness Month years back but the most recent celebrations and Declarations from the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness and Celiac Sprue Association point to May as the true National Celiac Awarness Month.
Celtic Celiac @ http://celtic-celiac.blogspot.com/