Practice

Plan Hill Day
The basics.
We all have to start somewhere.
Your state’s Hill Day can be as
large or as small as your state
organization wants it to be. Missouri’s
goal is to have as many
occupational therapy practitioners
and students as possible in
the capitol building on the same
day. Two hundred bodies in one
hearing room or rally space is
very powerful. The following
steps have proven the most successful
for us.
Hawaii became the 50th and final state to fully
license occupational therapists and one of
the last remaining states to license occupational
therapy assistants when then Governor
Neil Abercrombie signed the practice act. (2014)
Successful
Advocacy
1Pick your team. The Hill Day planning
team will be made of volunteers. Team
members do not necessarily need to
be legislative experts. However, they
do need to be organized and willing to
dedicate the time to planning and follow
through. I suggest the following four
main team positions:
l Appointment Master. This person is
in charge of requesting and scheduling
all appointments with legislators.
This requires lots of emailing, phone
calling, and reminding. This person
will coordinate the schedule of events
for the day and assist with finding
rally speakers. On the actual Hill Day,
this person is responsible for keeping
attendees on schedule and making
sure all legislators are visited.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed a law
that strengthens the state law regarding habilitative
services and brings it in line with a new
federal rule. (2016)
l Logistical Planner and Visual Marketer.
This person is responsible for
reserving space and tables, determining
visual displays promoting occupational
therapy, and coordinating Hill
Day marketing, including invitations
to all licensed occupational therapy
practitioners and invitations to hand
out to the legislators and legislative
assistants during the Hill Day event.
This person(s) will need to be creative
and organized to ensure visual
appeal of the displays and marketing
material. Working with a marketing
and/or mailing agency is highly
recommended.
l Legislative Summarizer. This team
member writes the information
regarding current legislation, or creates
the “message” of OT on the Hill
Day. This information should be provided
prior to the event, as well as on
the day of the event. This will ensure
all attendees are giving a consistent
message.
l OT Power Player. This is everyone
else. Hill Day events are not successful
because of one or two people. Hill
Day events are successful because of
all the practitioners and students who
support the event. Hill Day is a lot
of fun, but it is also a lot of work. It
takes a lot of people to reinforce positive
messages, educate, and contact
legislators.
PHOTOGRAPHS: HAWAII GOVERNOR’S OFFICE (LEFT) AND
© EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND (RIGHT)
PHOTOGRAPHS OF STATE CAPITOLS © GETTY IMAGES
14 AUGUST 22, 2016 • WWW.AOTA.ORG