Diabetes Hands Foundation

Diabetes Hands Foundation was a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Berkeley, California, founded in 2008. It was funded through sponsorship income, donations, grants,[1] and earned income.[2] Diabetes Hands Foundation closed in June 2017, nine years from its founding, handing the administration of its online community programming off to fellow nonprofit Beyond Type 1.[3]

Diabetes Hands Foundation
FoundedMarch 2008
FoundersManny Hernandez, Andreina Davila
Focus"No one touched by diabetes should ever feel alone."
Location
Area served
Global

Programs edit

Online Communities edit

TuDiabetes (in English) and EsTuDiabetes (in Spanish) are social networks for people touched by diabetes.[4][5] The sites were established in 2007 as the first social networks for people with diabetes and their families.[6] TuDiabetes and EsTuDiabetes have more than 65,000 registered members[7][8] and are visited by over 200,000 people per month.[9] Initially built on the Ning platform,[10] both nonprofit online communities[11] were moved to the Discourse platform in 2015 to continue helping patients live with diabetes without feeling alone.[12]

Between 2010 and 2013, Diabetes Hands Foundation partnered with Children's Hospital Boston to develop TuAnalyze (in English) and EsTuAnalisis (in Spanish), two diabetes data collection, mapping, and surveying applications.[13] Members of the online communities could submit their hemoglobin A1C data to be aggregated and displayed on maps.[14] The project's goal was to rapidly survey and better understand populations of people with diabetes through data donations.[15] A research paper detailing the first lessons learned in connection with TuAnalyze[16] was published in the Public Library of Science in 2011, and many other survey results have been published by the Boston research team.[17]

Big Blue Test edit

 

The Big Blue Test was a program started by Diabetes Hands Foundation to raise awareness of the importance of exercise for people with diabetes. The program took place leading up to World Diabetes Day[18] (November 14). It reinforced the importance of exercise in managing diabetes by having participants test their blood sugar, get active, test again, and share the results online. The results typically showed how exercise reduces blood sugar levels for both people with diabetes and people without diabetes. For each Big Blue Test submitted, a donation to a diabetes charity was made to help people with diabetes in need of supplies and/or education.

In 2012, American Idol's Elliott Yamin and The Amazing Race's Nat Strand were integral to the Big Blue Test campaign.[19]

Diabetes Advocates edit

Diabetes Advocates is a program that serves as a platform for connecting individuals and organizations that have taken a leadership role in assisting people with diabetes and offered assistance in accurate reporting about diabetes in the media.[20] Many of the program's members have been featured on Health.com[21] and other publications.

Other Initiatives edit

HealthSeeker edit

HealthSeeker was a social game on Facebook aimed at helping people live healthy lifestyles.[22][23][24] The game was developed in 2010 by the Diabetes Hands Foundation in collaboration with the Joslin Diabetes Center. Players select missions such as stress-reducing or exercise-inducing activities to complete within a given period of time to help create a healthier lifestyle.[25] In November 2010, the game was made available in Spanish.[26] In June 2011, a HealthSeeker mobile app became available for iPhone and Android users.[27] In late 2012, Diabetes Hands Foundation sold HealthSeeker to Ayogo Health, the original developer of the game.

References edit

  1. ^ "Helmsley Charitable Trust Awards $150K to Diabetes Social Media Player". Archived from the original on 2011-05-29. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
  2. ^ "Diabetes Hands Foundation - GuideStar Profile". www2.guidestar.org.
  3. ^ ASweetLife Team (2017-06-14). "Diabetes Hands Foundation Closes, Handing Diabetes Forums to Beyond Type 1". ASweetLife.org. Diabetes Media Foundation. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Social networking sites changing the way people learn about health".
  5. ^ "Comunidad virtual en español ofrece ayuda a diabéticos". Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  6. ^ "The Orange County Register - Fellowship In The Diabetic Community". 2013-12-26.
  7. ^ "Members - TuDiabetes". Archived from the original on 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  8. ^ "Miembros - EsTuDiabetes". Archived from the original on 2010-09-26. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  9. ^ "Login". www.quantcast.com.
  10. ^ "Ning Blog - Social Media & Community Building Insights". Ning Blog.
  11. ^ Livingston, Geoff (12 February 2010). "5 Tips for Creating Non-Profit Online Communities". Mashable.
  12. ^ "Social Therapy: Online networks help patients handle diabetes without feeling alone (Endocrine News)" (PDF).
  13. ^ "Children's project uses social network to map diabetes".
  14. ^ Introducing “TuAnalyze”: Why Mapping Diabetes Data Matters
  15. ^ "What if Self-Tracking Goes Mainstream?". Archived from the original on 2010-10-05. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  16. ^ Weitzman, Elissa R.; Adida, Ben; Kelemen, Skyler; Mandl, Kenneth D. (27 April 2011). "Sharing Data for Public Health Research by Members of an International Online Diabetes Social Network". PLOS ONE. 6 (4): e19256. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...619256W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019256. PMC 3083415. PMID 21556358.
  17. ^ "TuAnalyze blog entries on TuDiabetes". Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  18. ^ "The Big Blue Test: Worldwide Diabetes Test-In". Archived from the original on 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  19. ^ Greenberg, Riva (23 October 2012). "Elliott Yamin Is Jammin' for Diabetes and the Big Blue Test". HuffPost.
  20. ^ "Diabetes Advocates Offer Assistance in Accurate Reporting in the Media". Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  21. ^ "11 Great Blogs and Websites for Insulin Users".
  22. ^ "Video Games Modifying Behavior Towards Good". 14 July 2010.
  23. ^ "Yahoo!". blog.games.com. Archived from the original on 2010-06-27. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  24. ^ "Facebook App Aims to Help Control Diabetes". 21 June 2010.
  25. ^ "Facebook Game Focuses on Health". Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  26. ^ "Nuevo juego de Facebook encara el alarmante índice de diabetes entre los Latinos". El Periódico USA. November 10, 2010. Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  27. ^ "MobiHealthNews". MobiHealthNews.

External links edit