Donate : Building Community Awareness

Help Build Sickle Cell Awareness
In Your Community

If You’re a Patient, a Parent, or At Risk…

• Pregnant or thinking of having a baby? Ask for a screening test for sickle cell trait.
• Send your partner for screening, too.
• Remember to ask your baby’s doctor about your newborn’s screening results.
• Educate yourself about sickle cell disease and its treatment.
• Stay in touch with your/your child’s doctors and follow their instructions to stay healthy.
• Tell your child’s school about special sickle cell needs upon enrollment.
• Tell your employer about your sickle cell needs upon hiring.
• Connect with a hospital that treats sickle cell BEFORE you have a crisis.

If You’re a Family Member or Friend…

• Understand that sickle cell families need support.
• Stay in touch. Let them know you’re there to help.
• Offer child care and transportation when it’s needed.
• Encourage young adults to learn about their disease and stay
  up-to-date with self-care.
• Ask for screening for sickle cell trait, and If possible, donate blood.

If You’re a School Administrator…

• Make sure your staff knows if a student has sickle cell disease.
• Connect with Sickle Cell experts who can advise your students and staff
  about sickle cell.
• Hold an “Awareness Day” to educate teachers, staff and students about sickle cell.
• Coordinate with your students’ parents and physicians to get help quickly in a crisis.
• Have alternative learning plans available for students during illness.
• Hold a blood drive at your school.

If You’re an Employer…

• Make information about sickle cell available through your health services department.
• Understand that your employees may have periods of absence when they or their children are in sickle cell crisis.
• Support patients’ efforts to obtain routine medical care so they can stay well
  and keep working hard.
• Make family medical leave easily available.
• Host blood drives.

If You’re a Health Care Provider…

• Include sickle cell trait and disease on your patient history form.
• Become familiar with the protocol for treating a sickle cell crisis.
• Use the Sickle Cell Information Center – www.scinfo.org – as a resource.
• Identify a sickle cell expert in your area.
• Refer patients with the sickle cell trait to a genetic counselor.
• Post information about sickle cell disease in your office.