- Diabetes Hands Foundation
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Diabetes Hands Foundation 
Founder(s) Manny Hernandez Founded March 2008 Location Berkeley, CA, U.S. Key people Manny Hernandez (President, Chairman of the Board), Andreina Davila (Creative Director, Secretary) Focus "Connect people touched by diabetes and raise diabetes awareness." Employees 4 Website diabeteshandsfoundation.org The Diabetes Hands Foundation ("DHF"), founded in 2008, is a Berkeley, CA-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that runs diabetes-centric online communities, serving people affected by diabetes either personally or through others. DHF also promotes diabetes awareness. It has two social networks that reach approximately 150,000 people per month.[1] The Diabetes Hands Foundation is funded through sponsorship income, donations, grants[2] and earned income.[3]
Contents
Online communities
TuDiabetes and EsTuDiabetes
TuDiabetes and its Spanish counterpart, EsTuDiabetes, are social networking sites for people touched by diabetes and were established in 2007.[4] TuDiabetes and EsTuDiabetes have more than 20,000[5] and 14,000[6] registered members respectively.
Both sites are built on the Ning platform[7] and are examples of nonprofit online communities[8]. In early 2011 DHF launched a TuDiabetes mobile app[9] and an EsTuDiabetes mobile app[10] for iPhone and Android mobile devices.
Diabetes awareness programs
The Diabetes Hands Foundation has developed diabetes awareness programs such as Word In Your Hand, the Big Blue Test, No-Sugar Added Poetry and Making Sense of Diabetes.
Word in Your Hand
The Word in Your Hand project invites participants to share photos showing a word in their hands describing life with diabetes. Through the project, people with diabetes along with their family, friends and caregivers describe their feelings towards diabetes.[11] In 2008, DHF licensed the Word in Your Hand trademark to LifeScan, Inc. for use as part of its Global Diabetes Handprint Campaign.[12]
Big Blue Test
The Big Blue Test first took place on November 14, 2009,[13] World Diabetes Day. During the Big Blue Test, people with diabetes test their blood sugar levels, exercise for 14 minutes, test again and share their results. The event is called The Big Blue Test because blue is the color associated with World Diabetes Day. The program aims to raise awareness about diabetes and the importance of exercise in diabetes management every November 14.[14] In 2010, the Big Blue Test was promoted through a video[15] that has received more than 130,000 views to date. DHF won two 2011 Telly Awards for the Big Blue Test video[16].
No-Sugar Added Poetry
No-Sugar Added Poetry is a book of diabetes poems[17] written by members of TuDiabetes.org with a foreword by William H. Polonsky, founder of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute.
Making Sense of Diabetes
To raise diabetes awareness and in preparation for World Diabetes Day 2009 on November 14, DHF held the Making Sense of Diabetes video contest.[18] It sought video entries about life with diabetes through one of the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. It produced a compilation video,[19] showcasing footage from some of the videos for each of the senses.
Applications and Social Games
TuAnalyze
Since May 2010, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Diabetes Hands Foundation has partnered with Children's Hospital Boston to develop TuAnalyze, a diabetes data mapping and surveying application.[20] Members of TuDiabetes submit their Hemoglobin A1C data. The service combines the data and displays the results on maps.[21] Data entered by participants is stored in the Indivo open-source Personally Controlled Health Record ("PCHR") system. The project's goal is to gather information through data donations[22] that can be used by researchers and to raise awareness about diabetes.[20] In late 2010, TuAnalyze was made available in Spanish through EsTuDiabetes, under the name EsTuAnálisis. In early 2011, a research paper detailing the first lessons learned in connection with TuAnalyze [23] was published in the Public Library of Science.
HealthSeeker
HealthSeeker is a social game on Facebook that aims to help people live healthy lifestyles.[24][25][26] 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.[27][28] In November 2010, the game was made available in Spanish.[29] In June 2011, a HealthSeeker mobile app became available for iPhone and Android users[30].
Awards and recognition
- In 2011, Diabetes Hands Foundation was a Finalist in the Technical Innovation category of the Health Care Heroes awards organized by the San Francisco Business Times[31].
- In the 2011 Dose of Digital Dosie Awards, TuDiabetes won Silver (Judges' Choice) for Patient Community – Non-Brand Controlled (Communities created with no direct affiliation to a pharma or healthcare company) and was Runner Up (People’s Choice) for Patient Community – Non-Brand Controlled (Communities created with no direct affiliation to a pharma or healthcare company).[32]
- In the Healthcare Engagement Strategy Awards 2011 Diabetes Hands Foundation received the Connecting Patients Award by Creation Interactive.[33]
- In the 2010 Dose of Digital Dosie Awards, TuDiabetes won 2nd place for Best Patient Community - Non-Brand Controlled (for communities with no direct affiliation to a pharma or healthcare company).[34]
- In the 2010 Healthcare Engagement Strategy Awards, TuDiabetes received the Best Patient Community award by Creation Interactive.[35]
- In 2009, Diabetes Hands Foundation was designated as a World Diabetes Day Champion by the International Diabetes Federation.[36]
- TuDiabetes received 2nd place for Niche Social Networking in the 2008 Web 2.0 Awards by SEOmoz.[37]
Board of Directors, advisors
Among its members, the Board of Directors of Diabetes Hands Foundation has a former executive from JDRF, two key Patient Opinion Leaders in diabetes and the VP for Full Sail University online.[38]
DHF also receives advice from diabetes experts such as Kelly Close, Kerri Sparling (from Six Until Me), Huffington Post columnist and diabetes advocate Riva Greenberg, mHealth Alliance Executive Team Member Jody Ranck, and Luis Fernandez Luque, a senior health informatics researcher at Norut.[39]
References
- ^ Quantcast statistics for the Diabetes Hands Foundation websites
- ^ Helmsley Charitable Trust Awards $150K to Diabetes Social Media Player
- ^ Diabetes Hands Foundation Guidestar nonprofit report
- ^ Social networking sites changing the way people learn about health
- ^ http://www.tudiabetes.org/profiles/members
- ^ http://www.estudiabetes.org/profiles/members
- ^ Nonprofit know-how when networking on Ning
- ^ 5 Tips for Creating Non-Profit Online Communities
- ^ Download the TuDiabetes App]
- ^ Download the EsTuDiabetes App
- ^ Word in Your Hand initiative
- ^ LifeScan Launches Diabetes Handprint Project
- ^ The Big Blue Test: Worldwide Diabetes Test-In
- ^ Three months to go to World Diabetes Day!
- ^ Do the BiG Blue Test, on World Diabetes Day
- ^ Diabetes Hands Foundation Wins 2 Telly Awards
- ^ No-Sugar Added Poetry Book Tells Diabetes Like It Is
- ^ What's diabetes like to live with? Make a movie.
- ^ Making Sense of Diabetes video
- ^ a b Children's project uses social network to map diabetes
- ^ Introducing “TuAnalyze”: Why Mapping Diabetes Data Matters
- ^ What if Self-Tracking Goes Mainstream?
- ^ Sharing Data for Public Health Research by Members of an International Online Diabetes Social Network
- ^ Video Games Modifying Behavior Towards Good
- ^ New Facebook game seeks to manage real-world diabetes risks
- ^ Facebook App Aims to Help Control Diabetes
- ^ Facebook Game Focuses on Health
- ^ Digital Channels for Diabetes: Facebook (video)
- ^ "Nuevo juego de Facebook encara el alarmante índice de diabetes entre los Latinos". El Periódico USA. November 10, 2010. http://www.elperiodicousa.com/noticiashispanicprwire/18434/nuevo-juego-de-facebook%28r%29-encara-el-alarmante-iacutendice-de-diabetes-entre-los-latinos.
- ^ Will DHF's HealthSeeker game compel diabetics (and others) to live healthier?
- ^ Diabetes Hands Foundation uses social media
- ^ [http://www.doseofdigital.com/2011/06/meet-2011-dosie-award-winners/ Meet the 2011 Dosie Award Winners]
- ^ The Diabetes Hands Foundation - Connecting Patients Award
- ^ 2010 Dose of Digital Dosie Award Winners
- ^ Best Patient Community Award - Creation Interactive
- ^ World Diabetes Day Champions
- ^ SEOmoz's Web 2.0 Awards
- ^ Diabetes Hands Foundation Board of Directors
- ^ Diabetes Hands Foundation Board of Advisors
External links
Categories:- Diabetes organizations
- Non-profit organizations
- Global internet community
- Social networking services
- Community websites
- Virtual communities
- Online support groups
- Health websites
- Health video games
- Health informatics
- Health advocacy groups
- Web 2.0
- Social media
- Internet properties established in 2007
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
