WEGOhealth: Mobile Health Apps Failing to Get it Right

The good people at WEGO Health asked me for my opinions about health apps and then I chatted their ear off.

Diabetes Blog Week, Day 2

Diabetes Blog Week, Day 2, "One Great Thing"

 Today's Topic:

Living with diabetes (or caring for someone who lives with it) sure does take a lot of work, and it’s easy to be hard on ourselves if we aren’t “perfect”.  But today it’s time to give ourselves some much deserved credit.  Tell us about just one diabetes thing you (or your loved one) does spectacularly!  Fasting blood sugar checks, oral meds sorted and ready, something always on hand to treat a low, or anything that you do for diabetes.  Nothing is too big or too small to celebrate doing well! 

I am going to make myself uncomfortable and do two things that I abhor. The first and admittedly easier part, I'm going to write to the prompt. Second and much more difficult, I'm going to unapologetically say nice stuff about myself.

• I think I do a good job of sharing what it's like to be a parent of a child with type I diabetes. I see being this transparent as a public service and it makes me proud that Arden's Day helps people.
   
• I can basal away a high or low BG in a way that makes me feel like dropping confetti on my own head.
   
• Arden's A1c is in range.
   
• It still remains to be seen but I truly believe that the greatest thing that I will ever do (as it relates to diabetes and excluding caring for Arden) is to imagine 'Arden's Day Gives'

Thanks to @alsophil for our logo!

The interactions that I've had on this blog led me to believe that while there are many obstacles that we all face while living with type I diabetes, one of them bothered me more then the rest. I was startled by the number of voices that I heard online that want devices to help them manage their type I but can not, even though a great many of them are insured, afford to use them. After much soul searching and some timely input from others I came to the conclusion that I could be the one to effect this issue and we set about forming a non profit to do just that. 

On April 17, 2012 'Arden's Day Gives" was granted it's incorporation status from the state of New Jersey and we are currently in the process of applying for charitable status from the federal government. The process is a long and complicated one but we are making our way through it quite nicely. 

I hope Arden's Day Gives can serve as an example to you that your thoughts are only one physical action away from being tangible. I took a word on a digital page and turned it into an entity for good. Though ADG is still just a FaceBook page that's under construction, a twitter account and a URL that doesn't point anywhere yet, it is closer to helping the children in our community that need it most then it may appear. 

So far what I've done amounts to not much more then a raised seal on some paperwork but that's just the part that you can touch. In the feeling world, in the place where hope lives, it's already "great"!

I hope that you can follow Arden's Day Gives at one or all of the ways that I provided above. Very soon we will launch a website at www.ardensdaygives.org, be announcing our board members and with some luck be in possession of a 501(c)3 distinction by the end of the year. After that we will seek support from where ever we can find it and then go about doing the work of getting insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors to the children that want and need them.

http://twitter.com/ArdensDayGives

http://www.facebook.com/ArdensDayGives

Bring Your Child to Work Day 2012

My wife's company, Novartis, does an amazing job every year with Bring Your Child to Work Day, they put a lot of resources and manpower into creating an informative and fun day for the kids. This year the focus was on how products are imagined, marketed, and brought to a store near you. People from all different parts of the company spoke to the children and explained what their department did and why it was important to the process. After each "talk" the kids performed different tasks with the goal of producing a cookie that they could sell at the end of the day.

All of the proceeds from the cookie sales are being donated to our JDRF chapter so the last talk of the day was from me and Arden. We explained the difference between type I and type 2 diabetes, gave an overview of the JDRF and had a hands-on look at Arden's OmniPod insulin pump and her DexCom CGM. Insulet was kind enough to send me some non working or dummy OmniPods so that the kids could try them on if they wanted to.

The day was a wonderful success raising $1,100 for the JDRF, an amount that will be matched by Novartis 100% for a grand total of $2,200! 

One of the best parts of the day was watching the kids work so hard on their cookie ideas, boxes and then seeing the hustle they all showed selling the cookies. It was while they were selling that I began to really notice all of the OmniPods on their arms and I have to admit that it was a very warming experience to see the children so enthusiastic and excepting of it. If I had enough pods I think every kid in the room would have been wearing one.

Arden and her team sold chocolate chip cookies and their marketing hook was that they had a celebrity endorsement, if you look closely at the boxes you'll see, "Arden's Favorite Cookies" on the sides.

Big thanks to Novartis, my lovely wife Kelly for suggesting that the JDRF would be a great place to send the funds collected and Insulet for sending the pods for the kids to wear. 

I explained to the children that advocacy and awareness is what people with type I need the most from them and that I hoped they would tell someone about the good work that they did. I was very proud of all of them for the attention, effort and concern that they displayed throughout the day... it was a great experiance for everyone!

WDD: Hero of the week

The International Diabetes Federation is asking, "Do you know someone that is active in promoting the diabetes cause or that are engaging, motivating and leading others to take steps toward creating healthier lives". If you know someone that fits this description please nominate them at this link. There are so many "Diabetes Heroes" in the DOC, please help to get them the attention that they deserve.

I want to thank the IDF for the unbelievable pleasure that comes with being recognized by them and for the honor of being called a "Diabetes Hero". I am humbled by this distinction and I hope you can take a moment to visit their site and learn more about their amazing efforts in the diabetes community and the world.

The Untitled Giving Project needs a name

We are on track to file the incorporation paperwork this week for our Untitled Giving Project!

I keep circling back to the name for this charity. I'm 99.9% sure that it should be called 'Arden's Day Gives' but as I find myself committing the name to an application... I get less sure. So I was hoping that I could get some feedback from all of you?

My reasons for the name Arden's Day Gives are as follows:

The phrase 'Arden's Day' has significant penetration with search engines and I think that giving that away and starting new would be a disadvantage.

The name is a simple representation of the charity's goal.

I don't want to pick a super specific name and then one day in the future decide that the charity is capable of doing more, branching out and have the name be restrictive. 

I couldn't find a good acronym for "Helping children afford insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors". Unless you'd like to be a supporter of the H.C.A.I.P&C.G.M? :)

If you like the name 'Arden's Day Gives' please let me know in the comment section but if you have another thought... please don't hold back. I want you all to love your t-shirt ;)

Thank you for your input and continued support!

Best,

Scott