Archive for the ‘The Wellness Community’ Category

November 6th, 2009 By Jeremy Lundberg Comments Off

The Wellness Community and Gilda’s Club Unify to Provide Support to All People Affected By Cancer

Yesterday, two prominent cancer support organizations, The Wellness Community and Gilda’s Club, announced they were merging under the new name, “The Cancer Support Community.”  I was honored to have been invited to present on “Social Media: Transforming marketing and outreach in the not-for-profit world” at their annual National Cancer Leadership Conference in Washington, DC.  The program was attended by more then 300 hundred healthcare professionals working in the field of psychosocial oncology.

Here is a snippet from the official press release:

“The Cancer Support Community offerings include a comprehensive menu of personalized and essential services, including support groups, counseling, education and healthy lifestyle programs. Additionally, the organization is working to expand its vital services to meet the urgent needs of cancer patients and their loved ones. To ensure no one has to face cancer alone, these support services will soon be available to people in all 50 U.S. states and internationally through the Cancer Support Community’s network of community-based centers, and at hospitals, community oncology practices and other non-profits, as well as online. The Cancer Support Community is also exploring the use of novel technologies, including mobile, to help extend the reach of these meaningful resources.

The Cancer Support Community is now the largest employer of psychosocial oncology mental health professionals in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the organization includes a network of nearly 50 local Gilda’s Clubs and Wellness Community centers worldwide, more than 100 satellite locations and online support services that extend around the world. For more information about the Cancer Support Community, visit www.cancersupportcommunity.org“.

We have had the pleasure of being The Wellness Community’s technology partner for the past ten years and are so pleased to see these two wonderful organizations join forces to help everyone affected by cancer through their free support and education programs!

Posted in cancer, consumer health, Online Support Groups, Patient Education, The Wellness Community | Comments Off

June 17th, 2009 By Jeremy Lundberg Comments Off

Online Cancer Support Just Got Better…

The Wellness Community Online

The Wellness Community Online

Approximately 35% of people with cancer experience significant psychological distress, including depression and anxiety (Zabora, 2001).  Since 2001, DLC Solutions has partnered with The Wellness Community to design and produce “The Wellness Community Online” (http://www.thewellnesscommunity.org).  The Website is widely regarded as the first Website to offer free, professionally moderated online support groups and education programs to people living with cancer and their caregivers.  In 2005, we designed and launched www.Grouploop.org to provide psychological support to teens affected by cancer.

As part of of our ongoing commitment to innovation and cancer care, DLC Solutions and TWC recently released a wealth of new social media features to enhance the community experience.

Website Features

  • Professionally-led, real-time chat support groups
  • Peer-to-peer social networking
  • Secure, thematic discussion forums
  • Personal blogs
  • Video journals
  • Webcasts and podcasts
  • Instant messaging
  • Interactive education modules
  • Research tools to monitor symptoms and key quality of life indicators

Today, both Websites have provided peer-to-peer and professionally moderated support to thousands of people impacted by cancer, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s Disease, and other chronic illnesses.  The Wellness Community Online is also part of a research partnership between TWC, Stanford University, and the University of California at San Francisco designed to enhance access to quality psychological support to people living with cancer and other chronic illnesses.  The research team has scientifically demonstrated that these online support groups are just as effective as face-to-face groups in reducing depression, increasing zest for life, and improving overall social functioning and quality of life.  Review a complete listing of the research publications from this effort.

We are very excited to be a part of such a wonderful and impactful Web initiative and we look forward to continuing to expand the site to better help those affected by cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in cancer, ehealth, health 2.0, Online Support Groups, open-source software, Patient Education, social networking, The Wellness Community, Web 2.0 | Comments Off

December 18th, 2007 By Jeremy Lundberg Comments Off

The Virtual Wellness Community Silver Award Winner in the 2007 eHealthcare Leadership Awards

The Virtual Wellness Community, a social networking and support Website for people affected by cancer developed in partnership with The Wellness Community, recently received the Silver Award in the 2007 eHealthcare Leadership Awards. The Awards recognize the very best websites of health care providers, health plans, health care associations, online health companies, pharmaceutical/medical equipment firms, suppliers, other health care organizations, and business improvement initiatives. The eHealth Leadership Awards program was developed and first presented eight years ago by eHealthcare Strategies and Trends; a leading internet resource published by Health Care Communications. The awards aim to highlight the internet’s role in achieving an organization’s business objectives and recognize the hard work that has gone into creating outstanding health websites.

Re-launched in June 2007, The Virtual Wellness Community (www.thewellnesscommunity.org) was selected as a Silver Award winner in the Consumer Disease-Focused Site: Best Overall Internet Sites. DLC Solutions has been TWC’s Web technology partner for the Virtual Wellness Community since 2001. Winners were recognized during a special presentation at the Eleventh Annual Healthcare Internet Conference held November 4 – 6, 2007 in Las Vegas.

Posted in cancer, consumer health, Online Support Groups, social networking, The Wellness Community | Comments Off

June 21st, 2007 By Jeremy Lundberg Comments Off

New Social Networking Website for Cancer Patients and Caregivers Launched

After months of intensive collaboration with our friends at The Wellness Community, I am please to announce the launch of The Virtual Wellness Community (http://www.thewellnesscommunity.org). The re-designed Website provides cancer patients and caregivers with powerful social networking tools to exchange information and gain support as they cope with cancer.

Key features include community-driven discussion forums, professionally-moderated online support groups, media sharing, chat, and educational resources. Our creative design team embraced TWC’s tag line of “Support. Education. Hope.” to create an intuitive, user-friendly navigation for the site. On the technology side, our team leveraged open source technologies (e.g., PHP, MySQL) and Adobe Flash to keep development costs low and performance and accessibility high.

The Virtual Wellness Community helps approximately 125,000 online visitors annually.

Posted in cancer, ehealth, Online Support Groups, social networking, The Wellness Community | Comments Off

April 10th, 2007 By Jeremy Lundberg Comments Off

CNN Highlights Benefits of Cancer Social Networking and Support Website

Since 2001, DLC Solutions has partnered with The Wellness Community, an international not-for-profit dedicated to providing free cancer support and education services, to produce The Virtual Wellness Community. This pioneering Web site provides free, professionally-led online support groups for teens and adults with cancer and their loved ones. CNN recently highlighted the benefits of The Virtual Wellness Community during an interview with a member of one of the online support groups. To date, the Web site has helped thousands of people affected by cancer and the online support groups have been shown to be as effective as in-person cancer support groups in key areas. If you know of anyone that may benefit from TWC’s programs, please forward this on to them.

You can see the video interview at: http://www.dlc-solutions.com/

Posted in cancer, ehealth, healthcare, Online Support Groups, The Wellness Community | Comments Off