If you are entering 2015 as a caregiver or a recently diagnosed patient, you may want to check out the multiple online health communities available for support, treatment options and inspiration. Membership is free. These web sites allow you to share your success with medication, medical providers, and strategies for managing symptoms. You can also learn from others who have firsthand experiences with your illness about helpful resources as well as suggestions on what to avoid. These online communities will play a role in helping you to make better informed decisions about your care plan.
Two of the more popular communities are Inspire.com and PatientsLikeMe.com.
http://www.patientslikeme.com/
These companies make money from advertisers and by providing research data to life sciences companies to enable them to develop medication, diagnostic tools, and medical devices to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.
For example, Inspire.com currently has 16 groups dedicated solely to caregivers. There is a group for caregivers dealing with childhood cancer and another for Down syndrome. There are 48 groups dedicated to digestive system disorders like Crohn’s disease and appendicitis. 23 mental health groups are currently available that include Alzheimer’s, autism, and depression.
If you are in need of encouragement and advice from others that understand explicitly what you are going through, then you should consider joining an online health community this year.