Talk Health History: Family Health History Public Service Announcement (PSA) Campaign & Web site

1. Talk Health History: Family Health History Public Service Announcement (PSA) Campaign & Web site

2. CAMPAIGN RATIONALE Advances in the field of genetic science have now made it possible for families and individuals to make more informed health decisions, and for health care professionals to provide more effective, personalized prevention strategies and treatments to their patients. However, most people are still unaware of the importance of knowing their family’s health history to understand their disease risk. Furthermore, most families are unaware of the free online tools and resources that are available to help them and their loved ones lead healthier, happier lives.

3. CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND The American Society of Human Genetics and Genetic Alliance have partnered in this public health campaign initiative to spread awareness about the importance of knowing, documenting and sharing one’s family health history. Furthermore, this campaign initiative takes active steps to make family health history information, tools, and resources easily available and accessible to both consumers and health care practitioners all in one place (talkhealthhistory.org), to promote conversations about health within the family, and translate knowledge of family health history into healthy choices. Founded in 1948, the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) is the primary professional membership organization for human genetics specialists worldwide. The Society’s nearly 8,000 members represent a wide range of scientific, medical, legislative, and non-profit/social service backgrounds. ASHG’s mission is to serve genetics professionals, health providers, legislators and the general public by providing forums to educate these groups about advances in genetic research and their applications in clinical practice, to promote genetic services and advocate for responsible social and scientific policies. Genetic Alliance is the world's leading nonprofit health advocacy organization committed to transforming health through genetics. Our open network connects members of parent and family groups, community organizations, disease-specific advocacy organizations, professional societies, educational institutions, corporations, and government agencies to create novel partnerships. We actively engage in improving access to information for individuals, families and communities, while supporting the translation of research into services.

4. CAMPAIGN GOALS • Educate consumers about the importance that understanding family health history can play in their (and their family members’) overall long-term health. • Increase awareness among families and health care practitioners (HCP’s) about the importance of knowing, sharing and utilizing one’s family health history information to gain a better understanding of one’s personal disease risk and the specific health behavior/lifestyle changes that should be taken to help prevent the onset of hereditary disease. • Drive traffic to the campaign Web site (www.talkhealthhistory.org) for more information about family health history, and links to online tools and other helpful resources, for both families and HCP’s. • Encourage families to begin having conversations about their health history, collect/record this information, and discuss it with their HCP’s. • Encourage consumers to enter the information into an online family health history tool and share the results with their relatives and HCP’s.