Diabetes Hands Foundation Explained

Diabetes Hands Foundation
Founded Date:March 2008
Founders:Manny Hernandez, Andreina Davila
Location:Berkeley, CA, U.S.
Area Served:Global
Focus:"No one touched by diabetes should ever feel alone."
Fact Sheet

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]

Programs

Online Communities

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

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 Idols Elliott Yamin and The Amazing Race's Nat Strand were integral to the Big Blue Test campaign.[19]

Diabetes Advocates

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

HealthSeeker

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.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Helmsley Charitable Trust Awards $150K to Diabetes Social Media Player. 2011-04-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20110529000753/http://helmsleytrust.org/news/grant-news/helmsley-charitable-trust-awards-150k-diabetes-social-media-player/. 2011-05-29. dead.
  2. Web site: Diabetes Hands Foundation - GuideStar Profile. www2.guidestar.org.
  3. Web site: ASweetLife Team. Diabetes Hands Foundation Closes, Handing Diabetes Forums to Beyond Type 1. ASweetLife.org. Diabetes Media Foundation. 11 August 2017. 2017-06-14.
  4. Web site: Social networking sites changing the way people learn about health.
  5. Web site: Comunidad virtual en español ofrece ayuda a diabéticos. 2013-11-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20131111025007/http://www.laopinion.com/salud/comunidad-virtual-espanol-ofrece-ayuda-diabeticos. 2013-11-11. dead.
  6. Web site: The Orange County Register - Fellowship In The Diabetic Community. 2013-12-26.
  7. Web site: Members - TuDiabetes . 2010-09-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100927014016/http://www.tudiabetes.org/profiles/members/ . 2010-09-27 . dead .
  8. Web site: Miembros - EsTuDiabetes . 2010-09-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100926102247/http://www.estudiabetes.org/profiles/members/ . 2010-09-26 . dead .
  9. Web site: Login. www.quantcast.com.
  10. Web site: Ning Blog - Social Media & Community Building Insights. Ning Blog.
  11. Web site: 5 Tips for Creating Non-Profit Online Communities. Geoff. Livingston. . 12 February 2010.
  12. Web site: Social Therapy: Online networks help patients handle diabetes without feeling alone (Endocrine News).
  13. Web site: Children's project uses social network to map diabetes.
  14. http://www.diabetesmine.com/2010/05/introducing-“tuanalyze”-why-mapping-diabetes-data-matters.html Introducing “TuAnalyze”: Why Mapping Diabetes Data Matters
  15. Web site: What if Self-Tracking Goes Mainstream?. 2010-09-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20101005012103/http://www.iftf.org/node/3598. 2010-10-05. dead.
  16. Sharing Data for Public Health Research by Members of an International Online Diabetes Social Network. Elissa R.. Weitzman. Ben. Adida. Skyler. Kelemen. Kenneth D.. Mandl. 27 April 2011. PLOS ONE. 6. 4. e19256. 10.1371/journal.pone.0019256. 21556358. 3083415. 2011PLoSO...619256W. free.
  17. Web site: TuAnalyze blog entries on TuDiabetes. 2012-07-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20131111031056/http://www.tudiabetes.org/profiles/blog/list?q=tuanalyze. 2013-11-11. dead.
  18. Web site: The Big Blue Test: Worldwide Diabetes Test-In. 2010-08-17. https://archive.today/20120713193154/http://forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/only-online/big-blue-test-worldwide-diabetes-test. 2012-07-13. dead.
  19. Web site: Elliott Yamin Is Jammin' for Diabetes and the Big Blue Test. Riva. Greenberg. . 23 October 2012.
  20. Web site: Diabetes Advocates Offer Assistance in Accurate Reporting in the Media. 2012-07-24. 2012-04-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20120402205214/http://www.reportingonhealth.org/blogs/2012/03/27/diabetes-advocates-offer-assistance-accurate-reporting-media. dead.
  21. Web site: 11 Great Blogs and Websites for Insulin Users.
  22. Web site: Video Games Modifying Behavior Towards Good. 14 July 2010.
  23. Web site: Yahoo!. blog.games.com. 2010-09-19. 2010-06-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20100627001136/http://blog.games.com/2010/06/21/new-facebook-game-seeks-to-manage-real-world-diabetes-risks. dead.
  24. Web site: Facebook App Aims to Help Control Diabetes. 21 June 2010 .
  25. Web site: Facebook Game Focuses on Health. 2010-09-08. https://archive.today/20120708020500/http://forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/only-online/facebook-game-focuses-health. 2012-07-08. dead.
  26. News: Nuevo juego de Facebook encara el alarmante índice de diabetes entre los Latinos. El Periódico USA. November 10, 2010. April 11, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111005042152/http://www.elperiodicousa.com/noticiashispanicprwire/18434/nuevo-juego-de-facebook(r)-encara-el-alarmante-iacutendice-de-diabetes-entre-los-latinos. October 5, 2011. dead.
  27. Web site: MobiHealthNews. MobiHealthNews.