Found this funny image courtesy of my good friend Melanie Phung - she knows I talk alot about health, especially concerning how digitally glued we are to our monitors.
Enjoy!
I recently kicked off the month of November by bringing to light National Diabetes Awareness month. After sitting in on a session at the Health 2.0 conference last month, it really made an impact on me about the way community comes together not only to support one another but also to inform. This is one of my most favorite aspects of the Web - the people.
So what I decided to do in honor of today being D-Blog Day, was to list as many diabetes blogs and sites as I could so that you would be able to check it out for yourself, get involved and spread the word. If diabetes is a focus point in your health research, feel free to use these sites and communities as a way to see how the Web is changing the face of this condition. Better yet, engage in the community and reach out to the author(s) for any questions.
Without further ado, here is the list I compiled of top diabetes sources. Feel free to add more in the comments!
DiabetesMine: Amy Tenderich has created an awesome community around diabetes-related issues
DLife: Everything you need to live your life well with diabetes
The Lemonade Life: Follow the life of Allison, a 20something living with Type 1 Diabetes
SugarStats: My buddy Marston and others have created a site to help you manage your life with diabetes - online!
Diabetes Talkfest: Another great diabetes community - Jon and Gina do a great job; they also started the D-Blog Day tradition
TuDiabetes: Hugely popular community site, based on Ning platform
Six Until Me: Kerri writes AND video blogs on things related to diabetes
DiabeticConnect: Social network for those with diabetes
DiabetesDaily: another popular social network
Diabetes Wise: Caro writes as someone who lives with Type 1 diabetes and how to live wisely/well with it
Please feel free to add some more to the list in the comments!
With the rise of diabetes in our country, it is imperative to realize the need to inform and educate those who are living with the disease. The more we can equip others on how to best manage and continue to live healthy lives, the better everyone will be. By the time the next CDC report comes out, I am looking forward to seeing some positive trends. Together, we can accomplish success.
I have finally been able to sit down and think about my exciting and deeply informative adventure out to San Francisco to attend the Health 2.0 conference. Some of the next few posts will highlight certain things that I got excited about and that I think really need to be brought to light regarding innovations in healthcare. I want to start off with showing this interview I had at the conference from the health video site, icYou. Great people over there and they were awesome during the session.
During the video, I talk about what Health 2.0 means to me and why I think it’s important to the well being of the masses.
Happy November! Welcome to the homestretch of 2008 - where everyone begins and finalizes plans for the holidays and traveling across country gets everyone a little stressed out.
I wanted to bring to your attention that this month is National Diabetes Awareness Month and there are a few reasons why I’m happy to bring this to your attention. First of all, if you have been following health related news you would have heard that as recently as yesterday, the CDC came out with a report on research they did showing the continuing rise of diabetes cases in America. We’re not in good shape (pardon the pun) as a nation when it comes to this disease, folks. The report highlights the obesity problem in the U.S. as the leading source for the new cases of Type 2 diabetes.
From the AP article:
In Type 2 diabetes, cells do not properly use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar into energy, and the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce it. The illness can cause sugar to build up in the body, leading to complications such as heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and poor circulation that leads to foot amputations.
In other words, we need to be doing as much as possible to create effective health campaigns that educate and communicate preventive actions so we can tackle this thing. One of the things I’m excited about living in this new media landscape is that we have people creating community and helping people suffering with the disease. Two great resources would be Amy Tenderich’s DiabetesMine (who at the beginning of the year was featured in mainstream news) and DLife, which is pretty much the WebMD of diabetes. Also, make sure and check out my colleague Amy Jussel’s post on Health 2.0 innovations currently going on that focus on diabetes. Amy is a great mentor of mine who focuses on how media impacts the behavioral health of youth at her non profit, Shaping Youth.
The focal point has been the South, which has been continually shown to have the highest incidences of individuals who are overweight and obese and this recent report shows that the area has the highest levels of diabetes cases. Is this a place where we can successfully target health education campaigns? What would help to increase adoption rates of healthier behaviors in this area?
Throughout the month of November, I urge you to inform those in your circle about the dangers of developing diabetes and help them learn about more ways to eat better and increase physical activity.
I know that recent posts have been in the light of global health and environmentalism, so I thought that ending the week (or starting it, depending on your POV) with a similar STWS theme would be fitting.
The sunny state of California has been experiencing drought-like conditions due to consecutive dry winters that continue to threaten their water supply. What better way to rally the citizens than to empower them to be SUPERHEROES!
The Water Saving Hero ad campaign gives Californians the information they need to collectively help conserve water - through tips for the home, outdoors and even respective businesses.
Brushing from hwickline on Vimeo.
I really liked this tagline on the campaign website (circled in red) - “This is a Job for Everyone.”
Think this might have opportunity to empower citizens for other issues as well? Maybe water drinking superheroes, for kids?
In my last post for Blog Action Day, I touched on a point about finding opportunities to eat locally - both positively impacting your health as well as the environment. One of the places in the DC Metro area that has been consistently providing this opportunity to the public is a store called Ellwood Thompson’s. After growing their loyal community of customers in the Virginia area, they are now expanding out into Washington DC. Ellwood is excited about moving toward their 20th anniversary and their new DC location will serve the Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods. The new store will be located in the DC USA development at 14th and Irving Streets, NW adjacent to the Columbia Heights Metro station.
“We’ve been interested in the communities along the 14th Street corridor as the home for our second store for quite some time,” says Ryan Youngman of Ellwood Thompson’s. “We walked the community and talked to the people. The overwhelming support we received from residents confirmed this is the perfect place to expand. Our commitment to environmental sustainability and conservation along with organics and clean local food is a perfect fit for these neighborhoods.”
After meeting Liz, the author of SuperEcoLog this past week and chatting about sustainable eating habits, I became more interested in this movement. Liz recently wrote about Michael Pollan, author of the best selling books on eating well and how he has challenged the next President to make some drastic changes within the food industry. Many of my readers know that childhood obesity is one of the areas of public health that strike a chord with me. There are many aspects of our activity levels and eating habits that are adversely affecting our health - our children are carrying the torch of our mistakes into the next generation. If we don’t begin making changes for our health and for our environment, I think we all can understand the dire consequences.
I personally look forward to checking out some of Ellwood Thompson’s offerings and making those changes in my own family’s life. Interested in learning more about Ellwood and what they are up to? Check out their blog and also these videos:
Ellwood Thompsons // At A Glance from Ellwood Thompson’s on Vimeo.
Ellwood Thompsons // Employees from Ellwood Thompson’s on Vimeo.
With Pulse and Signal, I want to help reinvent the methods and thinking behind effective health education and communication. We need to start thinking about environmental health as a topic of focus along with the more common issues of disease prevention. It all ties together. For additional places to learn about sustainable living and eating check these sites out and spread the word within your community:
These days it’s easy to feel as though we are in some sort of buffet of problems around the globe. Seriously. Take your pick of unsavory worldwide dishes - starvation, warring countries, civil unrest & injustice, public health emergencies and the subject of this year’s Blog Action Day: Poverty.
There certainly is no shortage of things to complain about, but one of the things I’ve learned regarding health issues is that it does no one any good to sit around and complain when there are things to do to help the solve the problem. That is why I am proud to have Pulse and Signal participate in Blog Action Day. in this post, I will look at the issue of poverty and how the amazing passion of individuals are making a difference - and how you can as well.
Let’s face it, poverty is unfortunately nothing new. We can try to ignore it, send some money to a television commercial that associates suffering with it, or we can just tell ourselves that we cannot do anything about it. Now while the poor may always be around us, I prefer to think about ways to add some relief. When I think about making a difference, I try to tell myself that famous quote by Gandhi - “We Must Be the Change We Wish to See”. I feel as though in order to tackle this worldwide issue, it is important to get some practice and start where you can. I’ve mentioned before, in an article I wrote for the Metropolitan Washington Public Health Assocation newsletter, to have the phrase “Think Globally, Act Locally” ring true in your minds. Especially in today’s wired world, local actions can be easy opportunities for a multiplier effect.
Ways to Make a Difference Where You Are:
Volunteer in your Community: There are plenty of ways to get involved in your local community from repainting a school to tutoring. Some great resources are VolunteerMatch, Idealist, and 1-800-Volunteer.
Give to a Local Charity: Make sure that you know exactly where your dollars are going by finding a local charity and get to know the process of philanthropy.
Eat Locally: It’s no secret that eating locally benefits the environment as well as your health. Check out some resources and places to get this done.
When you’re next perusing the aisles of the grocery store and you see products such as a Brita water filter, or PUR filtration system, think about how fortunate you are to live in a country that actually offers these items. Actually, take another minute to think about all the marketing and commercials that you see about our drinking water. Do the names Aquafina and Dasani pop into your mind?
What about Chlorine?
Oh…you haven’t heard about that one?
Well despite being introduced to the public drinking supply in the early 1900s (talk about brand longevity!), Chlorine has been integral in preventing diseases such as Typhoid fever and cholera. Ok, by now you probably realize that I’m not talking about any new brand of bottled water and talking about how our tap water systems have been shaped through innovations in the water purification process. As a matter of fact, last month saw the celebration of 100 years of chlorination in water being helpful in public health. The American Chemistry Council even has a Clean Water Challenge Quiz where for each correct answer, funds get donated to support household water chlorination programs in West Africa.
Remember the Free Rice project? Definitely still a favorite of mine.
Just recently, scientists in Australia have been working on ways to incorporate nanotechnology into the water treatment systems to get rid of bacteria and other harmful agents. From the old to the present day, it sure seems like people are taking strides to encourage us that tap water is still a viable source of thirst quenching water (gasp! really?). Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the bottling industry and those of us who tote around branded water bottles - I just wanted to bring to your attention some information about our water supply and how it still is pretty safe (and free) to drink.
A few weeks ago doing some personal health communication research, I came across this awesome organization that is working hard to transform people’s minds about water in New York City. Tap’dNY has set out to inform local New Yorkers that their tap water is second to none and how excited they should be about it! Tap’dNY seems to offer best of both worlds - bottled water but from local resources. Be sure to keep up with their blog too.
I have a feeling this movement of public and environmental health into the commercial world, might be something we will see more of.
…to the dreaded binge snacking!
A few weeks ago I stepped out of the Metro terminal (seems like some great advertising on Metro, huh?) and was greeted with this poster ad about peanuts.
I liked the way the ad got straight to the point, especially since most people walking by aren’t going to stop and mull over anything longer. Peanuts are apparently a great snack for when you want to control your hunger pangs and not want to eat anything you shouldn’t be - especially if you are looking to control your weight.
Check out more information about peanuts and their nutritional components at the National Peanut Board. Although their aren’t any specific social media aspects to this campaign, what sort of word of mouth techniques and tools do you think would be useful in getting the word out about this healthy snack?
The Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) have recently come up with a brilliant plan to raise awareness about what public health is - via social media style. The campaign is called This Is Public Health.
The above clip begins with an interview from random members of the American public, asking people what they think public health is all about. Were you surprised by some of the answers? Were any of the answers one of YOUR answers?
I just went to the section where you can actually get a toolkit to order stickers and other materials to spread the word about what public health is. Along with making use of other great videos, the campaign also makes use of Flickr, the popular photo sharing website. Mix in Google Maps and you have a campaign where you can see what students and individuals are doing across the nation to bring the importance of public health back to the forefront of our minds.
Do you think this will be a successful campaign? Why or why not? I especially want to hear from those of you in the field!
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