My Scope of Practice: Behind the Scenes of a Non-profit Association

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. — Confucius

  Allison Wilfong, BA, enjoys helping people. That gift helped her secure the position of Media Relations and Communications Associate for the National Association For Continence (NAFC), where she helps spread the word about the Association’s efforts to serve people living with incontinence and other related pelvic floor disorders. A 2008 University of South Carolina graduate, Allison earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communications with a concentration in Public Relations. While in school, Allison had numerous internships and found herself drawn to non-profit organizations. In September 2009, she was hired by the NAFC.

 The main purpose and goal of the NAFC is to educate people about preventive measures, diagnosis, treatment, and management options for bladder and bowel control problems. This is accomplished via consumer educational publications, services, and advocacy. The consumer educational publications include leaflets and pamphlets that address topics on a variety of continence-related health concerns in people of all ages. Other consumer educational tools include pelvic muscle exercise kits, a monthly e-newsletter, and disease-specific booklets on multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and Parkinson’s disease.

  Allison’s primary responsibilities include cultivating relationships with the press, managing the NAFC’s branded image, promoting educational materials, creating and editing the monthly consumer e-newsletter (Quality Care®) and the bimonthly professional e-newsletter (the Affiliates Bulletin), and assisting in the planning of outreach initiatives and special events. She also is called on to develop relationships with healthcare professionals such as urologists, gynecologists, urogynecologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, physical therapists, and physician assistants who comprise the professional members of the NAFC. “I am in regular contact with all members through the Affiliates Bulletin,” says Allison. “This newsletter includes synopses of recent professional conferences, summaries of landmark journal articles, important NAFC announcements, and relevant current events articles.”

  One of the biggest benefits of NAFC professional membership is being listed in the online Find An Expert directory, which includes detailed information about clinical practices. Another benefit is the opportunity to purchase bulk quantities of printed materials for patients. Members are tapped to author articles or be interviewed by the media. “Fostering relationships with healthcare providers may not seem like the typical role of a media relations professional, yet these relationships have grown in ways that have helped our organization,” Allison says. “The healthcare providers associated with the NAFC care greatly about improving the lives of their patients and giving them the highest quality of care available. Many providers are involved with our social networks. NAFC professional members who are on Facebook ‘like’ our Facebook fan page and help our efforts to engage other people by adding to the continuing discussions. Our members have authored articles for our e-newsletters, which then can be featured on our social networking sites. Many will be featured on our YouTube channel in the near future.”

  Allison enjoys reading the technology sections of local and national newspapers and online journals. “My position requires me to stay current and constantly change the way I perform everyday tasks,” she says. “Two years ago, my media contact list would have consisted only of journalists at local and national print periodicals. Now it contains those journalists along with bloggers, social media gurus, and freelance writers. The way people receive their news is constantly changing, so the way you distribute the news has to change too.”

  What Allison finds most challenging about her position is the diverse demographic she serves. The NAFC’s target audiences for its educational ventures differ greatly. Allison needs to connect with post-menopausal women, men in their 50s who are experiencing symptoms of an enlarged prostate, mothers with older children who wet the bed, and healthcare specialists. “I need to approach each of these demographics individually,” she explains. “Planning before I take action can be daunting because like most professionals in the media or public relations field, I want to jump into a task and get busy working.”

  Over the years, her responsibilities at the NAFC have taught Allison that each day is unique. “You never know what’s going to happen or who is going to call,” she says. “Being able to prioritize and be flexible are important. I always work on multiple projects simultaneously, so I never underestimate the power of research and planning. I also always look back on what we did for previous events to recreate our successes.”

  Allison is inspired by the fact that she is lucky to have a job she truly enjoys. “It isn’t hard for me to get out of the bed every morning because I love coming to work,” she says. “The NAFC’s mission is to help improve the lives of those with bladder or bowel control problems, voiding dysfunction, and relate pelvic floor disorders. Our consumers contact us to tell us how much they enjoy our newsletter and that they share it with their friends and family members. I am diligent about securing information for this publications, so hearing their positive feedback is particularly rewarding.”

  Allison advises all up-and-coming professionals to consider the opportunities that complement the healthcare field. “This is an exciting time for healthcare,” she says. “Cultivating relationships is a must. For me, that means being open to helping reporters and journalists find subjects for their articles. It also means ensuring that information about our efforts reaches people with incontinence as well as healthcare professionals and volunteer caregivers.” Allison’s savvy professional demeanor and acceptance of perpetual change in the industry leaves little doubt that the sky is the limit in her scope of practice.

The NAFC recently launched a Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/pages/National-Association-For-Continence/205987812562?), Twitter account (@NAFCorg), NAFC specific blogs (bladderbreak.wordpress.com and nafcpowderroomtalk.blogspot.com), and their own YouTube channel (NAFC29403). For more information about the NAFC, please visit www.nafc.org.