‘Together Under the Umbrella’ is the new campaign of our member the European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA). It aims to raise awareness on the range and prevalence of brain disorders. Quick!, let’s get under the umbrella here.
The human brain is a complex and magnificent organ. Our brain gives us awareness of ourselves and of our environment, processing a constant stream of sensory data. It controls our muscle movements, our breathing and internal temperature. Every creative thought, feeling, and plan is developed by our brain.
At the same time, the human brain is also the origin of many chronic and disabling diseases that have a huge impact on the lives of people affected by them. Brain disorders – including developmental, psychiatric, neurodegenerative and pain-related diseases – represent an enormous disease burden in terms of both human suffering and economic cost. Brain disorders affect at least one in three people during their lifetime – currently 165 million people in Europe.
‘Together Under the Umbrella’ is an innovative campaign which aims to educate society on the range of brain disorders and the number of people affected and to raise awareness of the impact and prevalence of these conditions. The colourful website http://undertheumbrella.eu/ is a hub featuring information, resources and ideas of ways to get involved.
The campaign is in response to demands by EFNA’s members to ‘brand the brain’ by grouping all brain disorders under a common symbol. Ahead of the launch on 15 March EFNA invites your organisation to sign up to support the campaign: http://undertheumbrella.eu/sign-up/
A second action, which will only take a moment for those of you who already active on Twitter, is to sign up to the Thunderclap Tweet: http://thndr.me/VWH57P This will activate the following Tweet: “I’m getting #UnderTheUmbrella to raise awareness of brain disorders.’’ And if you do use Twitter the hashtag is #undertheumbrella with the following slogan ‘1 in 3 Europeans fit under the umbrella – do you?’
Together Under the Umbrella aims to lead to an increase in public, political and scientific support for all brain and brain-related disorders, resulting in reduced stigma. The campaign asks you, the patient community, healthcare professionals, the general public, and high profile figures to take and share a picture of themselves under an umbrella using the hashtag #UnderTheUmbrella.
The European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA) brings together European umbrella organisations of neurological patient advocacy groups, to work with other associations in the field of neurology.