Diabetes Hands Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization based in Berkeley, California founded in 2008. It is funded through sponsorship income, donations, grants, and earned income. 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.
Programs
Online Communities
TuDiabetes and EsTuDiabetes, are social networks for people touched by diabetes. The sites were established in 2007 as the first social network for people touched by diabetes. TuDiabetes and EsTuDiabetes have more than 65,000 registered members and are visited by well over 200,000 people per month. Initially built on the Ning platform, both nonprofit online communities were moved to the Discourse platform in 2015 to continue helping patients live with diabetes without feeling alone. Between 2010 and 2013, Diabetes Hands Foundation partnered with Children's Hospital Boston to develop TuAnalyze and EsTuAnalisis, two diabetes data collection, mapping, and surveying applications. Members of the online communities could submit their Hemoglobin A1C data, and the aggregate data and displays the results on maps. The project's goal was to rapidly survey and better understand populations of people with diabetes through data donations. A research paper detailing the first lessons learned in connection with TuAnalyze was published in the Public Library of Science in 2011, and many other survey results have been published by the Boston research team.
The Big Blue Test is a program started by Diabetes Hands Foundation to raise awareness of the importance of exercise for people with diabetes. The program takes place leading up to World Diabetes Day. It reinforces the importance of exercise in managing diabetes by having participants test their blood sugar, get active, test again, and share the results online at bigbluetest.org. The results typically show 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 has been made to help people with diabetes in need of supplies and/or education. In 2012, American Idol's Elliott Yamin and Amazing Race's Dr. Nat Strand were integral to the Big Blue Test campaign.
Diabetes Advocates
Diabetes Advocates is a program that serves as a platform for connecting individuals and organizations that have taken a leadership role in improving the world for people touched by diabetes, to amplify their voices, offer assistance in accurate reporting about diabetes in the media, and increase their impact in the diabetes community. Since 2009, the program has grown to nearly 400 members, many of whom have been featured on Health.com and other publications.
Other Initiatives
HealthSeeker
HealthSeeker was a social game on Facebook aimed at helping people live healthy lifestyles. 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. In November 2010, the game was made available in Spanish. In June 2011, a HealthSeeker mobile app became available for iPhone and Android users. In late 2012, Diabetes Hands Foundation sold HealthSeeker to Ayogo Health, the original developer of the game.
