Supporters joined with UOAA and the ostomy community on Saturday, October 1, 2022 to spread the word that Ostomies Are Life-Savers!
Listen to the Cleveland Clinic Butts and Guts podcast featuring Danielle Gulden of DoubleBagginIt (this year’s OAD Champion) and Advocacy Committee Member Keagan Lynggard-Hysell. They talk about ostomies, UOAA, care at the Cleveland Clinic and Ostomy Awareness Day. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Run for Resilience Ostomy 5k is back. Even if you don’t run/walk/roll this year please consider supporting the resilience of fundraisers nationwide. These events are a key fundraiser to support the programs and services of United Ostomy Associations of America, Inc. Don’t forget to send us your photos and let us know about your Virtual Ostomy 5k. #RunforResilience #OstomyDay2022
A limited number of t-shirts/sizes may still be available for those attending in-person events.
Instructions: Simply post this image in your social media stories and use drawing tools or emoji’s to show which “this or that” applies to you. Then share the image again without marking it, so that other ostomates can screenshot it and mark their own. Feel free to tag UOAA and add hashtags such as #OstomyDay2022 and #OstomiesAreLifesavers
In this Bladder Cancer Matters podcast from BCAN, host Rick Bangs talks with Wound and Ostomy Care nurse Cindy Myers (Director of the Arizona Ostomy 5k) about what bladder cancer patients can expect. Click here to listen to the fascinating discussion: https://bcan.org/bladder-cancer-and-ostomy/.
Share your personal story about how having an ostomy has changed or saved your life with your friends on social media. Tag UOAA and use the hashtag #OstomiesAreLifesavers and #OstomyDay2022 and help smash stigmas and raise ostomy awareness on a national level.
Share our #OstomiesAreLifesavers “giphy stickers” on social media (search @UOAAOstomy) or print out our friendly Sailor_Ostomy Pouch and name it after your own stoma, and take photos with it around town Flat Stanley style. Our lifesaver buoy is available as well 2022_UOAA_Ostomy_LifeSaver pdf or jpeg.
UOAA and Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation have partnered for a Facebook Live talk on their FB page Sunday, October 2. Join us as we discuss Ostomies and Caring for Your Mental Health in honor of Ostomy Awareness Day. Hear from leading experts Alex M. Aningalan, a certified wound and ostomy nurse, and Dr. Alyse Bedell, a gastro-psychologist, about the physical and mental health effects of ostomy surgery.
Check out all the ways Hollister Incorporated is supporting the ostomy community for Ostomy Awareness Day and get your free stoma sticker. To visit with them in person be sure to stop by their table at one of our Run for Resilience Ostomy 5k events – they are the Exclusive Diamond Sponsor.
This SAMPLE LETTER TO THE EDITOR is a way for you to spread ostomy awareness and connect people in your community to ostomy support and information. Use it as a guide in reaching out to your local newspaper, TV, Radio station or website.
WOCN Ostomy Education Day is a free online experience open to all aimed at celebrating ostomy awareness, dispelling myths, and increasing ostomy education to improve patient outcomes. This full day of engagement and education will be held on Saturday, October 1, 2022 and will feature nine sessions brought to you by experienced wound, ostomy, and continence (WOC) nursing professionals and subject matter experts and will award a total of 6.25 Contact Hours for eligible professionals.
Register at WOCN Continuing Education Center (CEC)
Celebrate Ostomy Awareness Day on October 1st, 2022, with a commemorative t-shirt supporting ostomates rights. Then on Ostomy Awareness Day, October 1st, snap a selfie in your shirt and share to social media using with #OstomyDay2022. T-shirt is $7.50 and you can receive free shipping valid for one-time use with code: OAD22
Proceeds from the sale of these shirts is donated to UOAA.
An important effort anyone can do is to get your Federal, State or Local elected officials to pass a proclamation! Use our 2022 Ostomy Awareness Day Proclamation template or take action here now.
Ostomy Awareness Day is held annually on the first Saturday of October. This day coincides with World Ostomy Day, a health observance where the world unites every three years to raise ostomy awareness. World Ostomy Day is sponsored by the International Ostomy Association. UOAA continues to sponsor and celebrate this day in the United States annually by spreading awareness and increasing national visibility of those living with ostomies. We will carry on breaking the silence and shining a positive light on what has saved so many lives.
United Ostomy Associations of America
P.O. Box 525
Kennebunk, ME 04043-0525
Call us toll-free at: 1-800-826-0826.
Our Information Line hours are Monday-Friday, 9am to 3pm (Wednesday until 2pm) EST. If you have an emergency, please dial 911 or contact your local medical professional.
Please understand that UOAA is a private, nonprofit, advocacy and informational organization. We are not a medical facility and we do not have medical or legal professionals on staff. Therefore, UOAA does not provide Medical, Mental Health, Insurance or Legal Advice.
