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August, 2018

A Note of Thanks and a
Request for Continued Cooperation.

Anonymity Letter to Media from the
General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous

From time to time we write our friends in the media to thank them for helping us observe our long-standing tradition of anonymity for members of Alcoholics Anonymous.

First, let us express our deep gratitude to you. From the beginning of A.A. in 1935, its members have recognized that word-of-mouth is not sufficient by itself to carry the program's message of hope and recovery to the many people still suffering from alcoholism. The media has been a vital part of this effort, and today we estimate that there are more than 2 million successfully recovering members of Alcoholics Anonymous in more than 180 countries.

Second, we respectfully request that you continue to cooperate with us in maintaining the anonymity of A.A. members. The principle of anonymity is a basic tenet of our fellowship. Those who are reluctant to seek our help may overcome their fear if they are confident that their anonymity will be respected. In addition, and perhaps less understood, our tradition of anonymity acts as a restraint on A.A. members, reminding us that we are a program of principles, not personalities, and that no individual A.A. member may presume to act as a spokesman or leader of our fellowship. If an A.A. member is identified in the media, we ask that you please use first names only (e.g., Bob S. or Alice F.) and that you not use photographs or electronic images in which members’ faces may be recognized.

Again, we thank you for your continued cooperation. Those who wish to know more about our fellowship are welcome to visit the “For the Media” section of aa.org. We hope you will take a moment to watch a brief video on why anonymity remains a vital principle in Alcoholics Anonymous.

Our fellowship does not comment on matters of public controversy, but we are happy to provide information about A.A. to anyone who seeks it.

Sincerely,
Public Information Committee
of Alcoholics Anonymous

Contact: publicinfo@aa.org

We of the Public Information Committee of Alcoholics Anonymous would like to offer information about A.A., through you, to members of your congregation who may have a drinking problem. We know that you are in a unique position to have contact with and help the active alcoholic.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a worldwide fellowship of men and women who help each  other to maintain sobriety through sharing their recovery experience with others.

A Brief Guide to Alcoholics Anonymous

The Clergy Asks About AA

AA At A Glance

AA Information Sheet

You may be familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous, and have patients with alcoholism  problems whom you may want to send to A.A. Perhaps we can help you help our fellow alcoholics. The attached Fact Sheet explains briefly what A.A. is and what it is not.

If you have questions about A.A., an A.A. member would be glad to talk with you. He or she is also available to introduce your alcoholic patient to our Fellowship.

The following links provide access to pamphlets and literature healthcare professionals have found most useful

A Brief Guide to AA

If You Are A Professional

AA as a Resource for the Healthcare Professional 

AA at a Glance

AA Information Sheet

You may be familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous, and have patients with alcoholism  problems whom you may want to send to A.A. Perhaps we can help you help our fellow alcoholics. The attached Fact Sheet explains briefly what A.A. is and what it is not.

If you have questions about A.A., an A.A. member would be glad to talk with you. He or she is also available to introduce your alcoholic patient to our Fellowship.

The following links provide access to pamphlets and literature healthcare professionals have found most useful

A Brief Guide to AA

If You Are A Professional

AA as a Resource for the Healthcare Professional 

AA at a Glance

AA Information Sheet

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Consider placing meeting schedules behind the front desks at hotels and motels. Some districts in our Area have had great success with this project including putting the library bookmarks in each hotel room.

As a committee, we can keep physicians supplied with A.A. literature and we can offer literature racks for clinic offices.

We can make a point of inviting our own doctors or others we know in the medical profession to open meetings, making sure they know they are welcome to any open meeting of A.A. Some committees give A.A. Grapevine subscriptions to doctors in their communities with the doctor’s permission. A Grapevine order form is enclosed in the pocket of the P.I. folder. Similarly, P.I. committees communicate in the same way with lawyers, educators, the clergy and others.

Find literature rack and medical professional packet pamphlet suggestions here.

Many Public Information committees contact professionals whose work may be involved with the active alcoholic.

Contact can be made by a letter and a follow-up visit. The P.I. Workbook has several sample letters to draw ideas from. The most effective letters and phone calls include some or all of the following elements:

Information About A.A.—Phrases from the Preamble can be quoted, or a few sentences can describe what A.A. is and what it can and cannot do. Many letters enclose literature, such as “A.A. at a Glance,” “Information on Alcoholics Anonymous,” “If You are a Professional,” and “A.A. in Your Community.”

A Request to Cooperate With the Professional—An A.A. contact can be suggested, giving the local Public Information Committee mailing address, or that of an intergroup or central office. (Many letters explain that A.A. members are available and interested in helping to
come and talk about A.A., put on a public A.A. meeting, provide literature, and so on.)

Information About the Traditions, Making Clear What A.A. Does and Does Not Do—Clarification of the Traditions is important, particularly those that relate to nonaffiliation and anonymity.

Drop a few bookmarks with A.A. contact information off at your local Library...

The Greater Seattle Intergroup PI/CPC committee developed a bookmark for Library PI projects. Committees outside the Greater Seattle Area can use and modify this bookmark any way they wish. Some committees have modified the bookmark with their local Intergroup/Central Office contact details.

• For printing: Bookmark PDF
• For editing: Bookmark Publisher File

The Seattle committee uses an online printing service which costs about $100.00 for 5,000 bookmarks. Contact us for more information about printing options.

Contact a high school, offer A.A. literature and A.A. Videos for Young People and/or a presentation on A.A.—what we do and what we do not do.

Want to contact a school and get started?  Try starting with this high school outreach project. Also, if you want to use the high school project as training in a workshop, take a look at the stump the servant game.

Find other resources below to get started.

• F-9: A Message To Teenagers...
• P-4: Young People and A.A.
• P-13: Do You Think You're Different 
• P-37: Too Young
• Videos for Young People

Whether for radio or television, A.A. Conference-approved P.S.A.s are widely accepted as a way to provide information on A.A.

Our PSAs are described in the literature catalog available at your central office/intergroup, or by contacting G.S.O. Local P.I. committees frequently purchase P.S.A.s from G.S.O. to distribute to local stations. Many times, P.l. committees find that a personal visit to deliver the cassette often results in an opportunity to share A.A. information, emphasizing the principles of anonymity and non-affiliation.

If you would like more information about working with radio or television stations, please write or call G.S.O. and ask for the service piece “Suggestions for Working with Your Local Radio and Television Stations to Help Carry the Message.”

In Western Washington there are P.I. committees working on getting P.S.A.s distributed widely.

PSA "Doors"

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXvcszOH60M&w=560&h=315]

PSA "I Have Hope"

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC_oBKEdU5s&w=560&h=315]

PSA "I Thought"

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur-i2C4FLkg&w=560&h=315]

PSA "25 & Under"

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPhd1Mk1QQg&w=560&h=315]

AA Corrections "A New Hope"

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWR4J90yAWk&w=560&h=315]

AA Video for Healthcare Professionals

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwLPPb-glfI&w=560&h=315]

AA Video for Employment/Human Resources Professionals

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbJ5JFPXt8s&w=560&h=315]

AA Video for Legal and Corrections Professionals

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDIbUm9Dv_4&w=560&h=315]

Both The PI & CPC Workbooks have many suggested projects for local committees. Many of the projects below are up and running in Area 72. Explore and see how you can help.

Anonymity

Understand the purpose of Anonymity.

Hotels and Motels

Drop A.A. meeting schedules at local hotels and motels in your district.

Medical Professionals

Keep physicians supplied with A.A. literature.

Public Service Announcements

Learn how do we do PSAs. What's happening. How to get involved.

Libraries

Libraries are public places. Great opportunity for A.A. information.

Literature Racks

Place A.A. literature racks in public spaces.

Schools

Contact high schools, offering A.A. literature and A.A. Videos for young people.

Writing Letters

Contact professional whose work may be involved with the active alcoholics.

A.A. Cooperation with Hospitals

Several A.A. service committees throughout Western Washing are working with local hospitals to provide “peer support visits” for patients admitted to the hospital with symptoms of an alcohol problem and or in acute alcohol withdrawal. The peer support visit is simply one alcoholic talking to another, carrying the message of recovery.

The first hospital in the area which implemented the peer support program was Virginia Mason (VM) in Seattle. The program with VM started in May 2015 and has been a great success so far. VM treats about 700 patients per year in alcohol withdrawal or suffering from alcohol related medical problems. We received 60 patient visit requests from VM during the first 9 months of setting up the 12-step program at this hospital. Please see the summary of A.A.s cooperation with Virginia Mason Hospital. In addition to Virginia Mason cooperation, we have launched a peer support program with 4 other major hospitals in Western Washington, including hospitals in Kelso/Longview,  Tacoma, and Bellevue.

Opportunities for cooperation with hospitals

1. Peer support visits for in-hospital patients.
2. Panel presentations to hospital staff with information about what A.A. is and what A.A. is not.
3. Provide free literature about A.A. for hospital staff and potential alcoholic patients.
4. Accompany any interested staff to an open A.A. meeting for professionals to learn more about the program.

Peer support process flow

We strive to keep this process as simple as possible. The offer to the patient for a peer support visit can be made at any time during their time in the hospital. The offer to the patient for A.A. peer support could be from a doctor, nurse, social worker, etc… If the patient would like the visit, the visit is usually coordinated through the social worker. The patient signs a release of information form before the social worker contacts A.A.

A permanent email address is assigned to each Hospital with an A.A. coordinator monitoring the email inbox at all times. Typically, A.A. volunteers are able to make visits from early morning until late evening. The email from the hospital to A.A. for a patient visit should be brief, with patient name, sex, and location. The A.A. coordinator replies to the request email right away to confirm that the request was received and that A.A. volunteers are on their way. The A.A. coordinator reaches out to their list of 12-step volunteers to find a volunteer that is available and then that volunteer is responsible to find a partner. We always go in pairs. We target to arrive to the hospital within 4 hours from the request. Volunteers check in at the nurse station before entering the patient’s room. The visit with the patient typically lasts between 30 and 45 minutes. Before the visit is over, the volunteer offers to have someone from A.A. to take the patient to a few meetings after they are discharged from the hospital (Bridging-the-Gap).  If the patient accepts this, we find it important to ensure that someone from A.A. is making contact on the same day that the patient is discharged from the hospital.

Why knowledge about alcoholism and A.A. is important

• According to the NCADD, there are 17.6 million people in the U.S. suffering from alcoholism.
• A.A. estimates to have ~1.37 million members in the U.S.
• Millions more sick alcoholics are still out there, suffering.

The alcoholic’s resistance to help can be frustrating

• The biggest obstacle to the Alcoholics chance to get well is their inability to admit they have a problem.
• Rationalization and denial are symptoms of the alcoholic’s illness.
• Some alcoholics will resist any suggestion that alcoholism is involved.
• Often the Alcoholic will not be willing to try A.A.

How medical professionals can help

• The doctor can often prepare the groundwork with the potential alcoholic by pointing out that he/she has the symptoms of alcoholism.
• At this stage, the main objective is that the alcoholic recognize that they have a problem.
• Make it clear that she/he has a progressive and often fatal illness, and that she/he probably can’t get well alone.
• When the alcoholic accepts that they have a problem, the battle is half won.
• Provide information about A.A. to the alcoholic patient.
• Ask the patient if they would like someone from A.A. to visit them while they are in the hospital.
• Almost one-half of A.A. members credit outside assistance – in the form of medical, psychological, spiritual, or other counseling – as playing an important part in directing them to A.A. (see 2014 A.A. Survey below) [Link here].

Preserving Anonymity on Radio, TV and Internet

Interviews A.A. members occasionally participate in interviews on radio, TV and the Internet, with great benefit to the Fellowship and to suffering alcoholics. Many in the media are aware of the Anonymity Traditions, and accustomed to helping A.A.s preserve personal anonymity at the public level. For those media persons who are not aware of our Traditions, be sure to explain the need for personal anonymity on your part, and request their cooperation. An A.A. who appears on radio, TV or the Internet and is identified as an A.A. member will find it safer to carefully arrange with the interviewer to use only his or her first name, and to appear in such a way that identification is impossible.

Reprinted from (Public Information Workbook,  page 5), with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.”

Annual Anonymity Memo to Media

Each year the General Service Office sends a letter to newspapers in the U.S. and Canada and also to radio and TV stations about A.A.s policy of Anonymity. It is suggested that local P.I. committees send a Letter on Anonymity to the Media to local newspapers, radio and TV. Letters from local people can mean more with hometown media than do mass mailings from New York.

2018 Anonymity Letter to Media

Anonymity at the Personal Level
In The Language of the Heart (page 15), Bill writes: “It should be the privilege of each individual A.A. to cloak himself with as much personal anonymity as he desires.” At the personal level anonymity provides protection for all members from identification as alcoholics, something newcomers may particularly desire. However, in doing C.P.C or P.I. service work — such as giving presentations to those in a professional field — an A.A. member may be asked for his or her first and last names. This is not an anonymity break because it is not on a level of press or media, and because an A.A. member doing this type of service work is also doing Twelfth Step work. However, if as an A.A. member, you are uncomfortable with this, then perhaps another form of service might be a better fit for you.

"Reprinted from (Cooperation with the Professional Community Workbook,  page 9), with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.”

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Place a literature rack in high schools, clinics, shelters, community centers, police stations, hospitals...

Keep the rack stocked with appropriate literature and meeting schedules.

Find suggestion literature for racks here.

“Public Information takes many forms – the simple sign outside a meeting place that says ‘A.A. meeting tonight'; listing in local phone directories; distribution of A.A. literature; and radio and television shows using sophisticated media techniques.  Whatever the form, it comes down to ‘one drunk carrying the message to another drunk,’ whether through personal contact or through the use of third parties and the media.” – Bill W.

What is Public Information Work and why Should A.A.s Do It?

Public Information (P.I.) in Alcoholics Anonymous means carrying the message of recovery to the still-suffering alcoholic by informing the general public about the A.A. program. We carry the message by getting in touch with and responding to the media, schools, industry, and other organizations which can report on the nature and purpose of A.A. and what it can do for alcoholics.

Reprinted from (Public Information Workbook,  page 5), with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.”

Purpose

Like all of A.A., the primary purpose of members involved with public information service is to carry the A.A. message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Working together, members of local Public Information committees convey A.A. information to the general public, including the media.

Reprinted from (A.A. Guidelines Public Information, page 1), with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.”

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