#HOH2018

This past week I attended the annual Headache on the Hill event sponsored by the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy. Nearly 150 individuals from across 40 different states met to advocate for migraine awareness on capitol hill.

On Monday, we met during the afternoon to train for the experience, and on Tuesday we traveled to capitol hill. We split into groups based on where we're from and met with congressman, congresswomen, and various other staff members throughout the day. My group consisted of Mary Franklin (Executive Director of the National Headache Foundation), Mark Masullo (patient), and Fe Britton (patient). Over the course of the day, we met with six different offices. During each of these meetings, we introduced why we attended HOH, our stories, and our ask. An ask is a request made by constituents of the members of Congress. This year, Headache on the Hill asked Congressmen and women to cosponsor the Opioids and STOP Pain Initiative Act of 2017. This bill is bipartisan and was introduced by Senator Brian Schotz, Representative Peter Welch, and Representative David McKinley. It requests 5 billion emergency appropriations for NIH research on pain ,and particularly headache disorders, to find non-addictive medicinal remedies to pain (thus addressing the opioid crises). Overall, I think HOH was a huge success, and from my perspective, almost every office we met with seemed in support of the bill.

On another note, I was only high schooler attending the event. At first, it was somewhat awkward given that I couldn't relate to many of the conversations being held. In the beginning, I could tell my group mates were possibly disappointed or at least hesitant given my age. Interestingly enough, by the end of the event, my group mates were more open to me. It was intriguing how, before they knew me, my group mates thought I would be a hinderence to the meetings, but once they got to know me, they realized that teenagers can actually be articulate and have good ideas. This serves to emphasize how even within the pain disorders community, efforts to help those suffering are primarily focused on adults, and adolescents are often left in the dust.

It was truly an incredible experience and afterwards you feel like you've really made a change. The people attending the event were inspirational and genuinely amazing people. I'm excited to continue participating in this annual event, and I hope people continue to apply and support our cause!

I'd like to thank Katie McDonald and the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy for organizing and hosting the event. I'm sure it was a jigsaw puzzle to coordinate meetings, hotel reservations, etc.

I'd also like to thank the staff members who took their time to meet with us: Calli Shapiro (Legislative Assistance in the Office of Representative Jan Schakowsky), Allison Jarus (Senior Policy Advisor in the Office for Representative Mike Quigley), Emma Kenyon (Health Policy Aide in the Office of Senator Claire MCaskill), Daniel Tsang (Legislative Correspondent in the Office of Senator Tammy Duckworth), Desiree Mowry (Counsel for Office of Senator Roy Blunt), and Christina Mahoney (Legislative Director in the Office of Representative Emanuel Cleaver).