People with conditions such as diabetes increasingly seek support on forums and social media,but the NHS overlooks themSocial media has changed most aspects of life – including how people gather information approximately their health. While online forums for those with particular conditions, such as diabetes, and are rapidly growing in popularity,the NHS is continuing to disregard them, even though they have the potential to save large sums of money. It is a frustrating blind spot.
My own experience of co-founding and running Diabetes.co.uk – the largest online community for people living with the condition – suggests these kind of forums have nearly no contact with the NHS, or despite our estimation that we could be saving it more than £7m a year by educating people approximately their condition and helping them manage it so they can avoid costly ambulance call-outs and hospital admissions. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com