A Public Awareness Idea From A Physician

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

A doctor who I've been in contact with for a while asked if CJD Voice ever

considered developing some kind of pocket card or small pamphlet that could be

mailed to primary care physicians or geriatricians? She said she gets them

all the time from drug companies trying to get her to prescribe some new

diabetic or hypertension drug...She said she thinks it would be very helpful.

She suggested such a tool could have a short summary of the signs and symptoms

that suggest CJD, diagnostic test options and general referral numbers for

subspecialists. She said she felt it would be a great educational tool for

physicians and would be happy to participate in developing it.

I wrote her back telling her I thought it was a great idea but my concern was

financing it. She said there are many community groups, clubs, organizations

etc. that offer small grants to cover exactly this kind of thing ($500-1000).

She added that if there is someone highly motivated in the group, information

about these

kind of grants can be gotten through a resource like the Foundation Center in

New York City or via the internet. She said, however, that it takes a lot of

hours of research. She said she will put it on the back burner and if she

runs across

something when doing periodic searches for grant resources for her own work

she will get in touch. She said that if something turns up in the meantime or

someone locates a resource and we need any help from her, she would be happy

to help. However, she said she bets we are so well informed we would have the

necessary information.

I think it is a great idea and would suggest adding psychiatrists,

ophthalomologists, optomotrists, and neurologists to the list of people to

send to if we had sufficient funds.

What does everyone else think of the idea and, if people like the idea, does

anyone know of sources of funding or be willing to work on that?

Debbie