I just had a chance to go through some of the online chatter about the announcement last week of the new Text4Baby mobile phone service that provides useful information for new and expectant moms. There are some more details on what this service means on the JNJ.com website (Johnson & Johnson is one of the founding sponsors) as well as on JNJBTW and BabyCenter, but I thought I would highlight a few of the posts I came across:

1) MobiHealthNews provides a snapshot of how mobile services are being used around the world to improve health literacy, highlighting a presentation made by Paul Meyer, co-founder, president and chairman of Voxiva, at a meeting last week in Nashville:

“Although there is a perception that everyone is on in Internet, only 31 percent of the population making less than $35,000 a year has broadband. Meyer pointed out that while only 51 percent of people with chronic illness have Internet access, 90 percent of Americans have mobile phones and 1 trillion text messages were sent last year.”

2) The Spohrs are Multiplying provides a personal perspective on the importance of quality care and information in ensuring healthy moms and babies:

“Information is power as they say, and this is rarely ever more true than when pregnant. An expecting mother who is informed about how to be healthy when pregnant greatly improves her chances of having a healthy baby.”

3) Ivy’s PPD blog highlights the kinds of messages distributed through Text4Baby, including support from Postpartum Support International:

“Yes, that’s right. PSI is an outreach partner of text4baby, which means that texts related to mom’s mental health will connect women to PSI resources. This ground-breaking inclusion of mental health messages in this program will help reduce stigma around, minimize risk for, and increase awareness about perinatal mood disorders.”

And of course, our own Margaret Gurowitz provided an historical perspective on Johnson & Johnson’s efforts to provide information for new and expectant moms on her KilmerHouse blog.

January is National Blood Donor month. Although there are many committed blood donors like this man who traveled though harsh winter weather to donate his 160th pint of blood, donations are typically lower this time of year. I wanted to share the reasons why I donate blood and encourage you to donate, too.

I started donating blood about 15 years ago. I was recruited by a member of the New Jersey Blood Services. The New Jersey Blood Services has been fulfilling its commitment to the people of New Jersey by supplying blood products and services with quality and compassion. They serve approximately 60 New Jersey hospitals and conduct blood drives on a daily basis in 14 New Jersey counties. I have always been mindful of what a blessed life my family and I lead, and felt that this was my way of helping others; doing my part to make a difference. 

Your chances of knowing someone who will need a donation is huge. A few years ago my good friend Elisabeth got the great news from her son on becoming a grandparent for the first time of twins. Unfortunately, the twins were born prematurely and barely weighing 2 pounds. They faced many medical obstacles and were in need of blood donations. I immediately volunteered to donate and am happy to report that 7 years later they are thriving. I feel a special connection to those two beautiful children and am grateful that I could help out. There is no better feeling and sense of self when helping others.

Some statistics from the Mayo Clinic indicate:

• That only 5 percent of eligible donors donate blood.
• Whole blood donors can donate every 56 days.
• 25 percent or more of us will need blood at least once in our lifetime.
• Each whole blood donation can help as many as three people.

Imagine that — helping three people with one pint of your blood. Be it a child, teen or adult someone may live another day with your simple act of donating blood.

The procedure to donate is an easy one — to start you fill out a form which includes your name, age, address and personal pertinent information. The next step a nurse takes your vital signs, temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and pricks your finger to check your iron level. If everything checks out you are then ready to donate. A phlebotomist administers the needle and in less than 30 minutes you donate a pint of blood. It’s as easy as 1…2…3.

Here are some ways that your blood donation would be used. The donation is separated into 3 components: red blood cells, platelets and plasma. Red blood cells are primarily used for cancer patients, hip replacements, liver transplants, anemic patients, ulcer patients and trauma victims. Platelets are used for cancer and leukemia patients. Plasma is mainly used for burn victims.

Like a lot of people I work with here, I feel we have a responsibility to the world community. I try to carry out many of those beliefs thorough volunteerism and blood donation. I am also a member of the Blood Committee at Johnson & Johnson. I am in charge of scheduling the volunteers to help at all our corporate drives, send reminder emails to donors before the drives and to help plan our annual Blood Donor Reception. The role of the volunteer is an important one –they welcome donors and help make their donation go as smoothly as possible.  At Johnson & Johnson we hold 5 drives a year at each of our three campuses. The blood committee meets after every drive and one of our functions is to brainstorm ways to increase donations throughout the year. We try to encourage our fellow employees, family, friends and members of the community to donate blood. 

In my mind, blood donation it is the easiest thing to do and the most rewarding – by donating blood you can save a life. I encourage everyone to roll up their sleeves and take part in donating blood.

While we are making strides against HIV/AIDS, there is so much more than can be done to save lives around the world. In developed countries we’ve been able to nearly eliminate the chance of babies being infected with HIV, but this isn’t the case for all babies born in many countries in Africa.

Anu Gupta, Director Corporate Contributions, Johnson & Johnson, spoke to Pat Farnack at WCBS 880 about what can be done to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV in African countries. Anu says that more than 1,000 babies are born with HIV every day, and many of those babies unfortunately will not live very long. Of those born with HIV/AIDS who remain untreated, 1/2 die by the time they are one year old, and 1/3 of those remaining before their second birthday. The tragedy is that these deaths are completely preventable, because it is possible to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease in the first place. 

Moms around the world need to have access to the necessary treatments that can prevent them from spreading HIV to their babies. Anu explained that to help with this, Johnson & Johnson partners with different aid organizations and community groups such as mothers2mothers who know the best ways to reach these mothers. 

You can listen to the interview or download the podcast here – and if you’d like to read more about mothers2mothers, there’s actually an earlier post on JNJBTW about one of the co-founders of mothers2mothers, Robin Smalley, here.

By Ben Plumley, Vice President, Global Access and Partnerships, Tibotec

33 million people worldwide are living with HIV, and 70% of those are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa countries – already some of the poorest in the world – do not have adequate financial and human resources to provide the services their citizens living with HIV need.

The healthcare capacity gap is one of the key themes of 2009’s World AIDS Day and World AIDS Campaign. A number of extraordinary innovative approaches to providing AIDS treatment and care have been developed in recent years. Whether it is through “Centers of Excellence” with state of the art treatment, training and research facilities, or community-led and managed providers of home based care, African solutions to particular African problems are now driving the response to HIV/AIDS.  

Uganda is a prime example of both hi-tech and low-tech approaches. The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, is a leading East African center providing optimal care and prevention for HIV and AIDS and works to develop innovative approaches to health training. Operated by Makerere University, IDI is a non-governmental organization that offers a full spectrum of advanced HIV care, support, training and groundbreaking, globally respected research. The facility lab meets and indeed exceeds western standards, and its activities are conducted with highly trained and experienced treaters and researchers.

Not thirty minutes away, in the townships that surround Kampala, TASO (The AIDS Support Organization) is a world-renowned community-based organization that has a network of local clinics where people with HIV can collect their ARV regimens. They even have a cadre of young motor-bicycle based healthcare workers delivering ARVs and home-based care to clients unable to get to the local clinics.

For all healthcare workers across Africa, providing HIV treatment and care comes with unique challenges.  The priority over the last few years has been for first-line therapy. In coming years, a growing focus will be for potent and safe second-line treatment regimens, as some patients begin to build resistance to or fail their first-line treatments.  Companies like Tibotec can help by providing medical education either directly or through collaborations with public and private sector organizations, providing treaters and decision makers with accurate information about our medicines:

From Bill Lin, Director, Corporate Contributions

With the majority of swine flu cases occurring in children and young adults, schools have become a battleground for the disease. School nurses and administrators play a crucial role in preventing the spread of the swine flu and responding appropriately to outbreaks of flu cases in their schools and districts so healthy kids can continue going to school.

The New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association and Johnson & Johnson recently held a Swine Flu (H1N1) Preparedness Training Seminar to provide school health professionals and administrators with accurate information about the current pandemic and prevention methods, such as educating students about hand hygiene and what to do when a sick child comes to school. Videos from the training seminar are available on the health channel.

This video features Dr. Tom Kirsch, an Associate Professor and the Director of Operations for the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, talking about effective prevention strategies to stop the spread of swine flu in schools:

“What is our role in social media within the Diabetes Community and who gets to define it?” 

 

All companies are trying to cross the bridge from the conventional way we’ve always communicated with customers to participating in the social communities where our customers are talking to one another.  It is a scenario filled with all the adolescent angst of trying to insert yourself into a conversation between the “cool” kids in school whom you are afraid will reject you if you say the wrong thing.  The truth is that every company is struggling with the same question.  Are we a resource?  Do they trust us?  How do we stay credible and remain within the regulatory guidelines?

 

People with diabetes are on call for their disease 24/7.  Information is coming at them fast – between testing products, treatment alternatives, drugs, devices – they most often rely on the advice and support of their peers.

 

During the past three years, I have seen significant changes in how people interact and share information about their healthcare.  In the past, healthcare companies hadn’t been part of that conversation.  Now Animas, along with many other companies, is trying to take steps to get more involved. I thought I would take a few minutes to explain just what we at Animas are doing to join in the online conversation about diabetes.

 

Before doing that though, I just wanted to acknowledge that I firmly believe the greatest value comes from organically grown communities and social networks.  They develop out of purpose and thrive because of the value the participants derive from their involvement.  In the diabetes world, this truly is the case.  In the online diabetes world there are so many passionate, engaged people dedicating their precious time and effort to bringing people together – to foster better education, support and a feeling that there’s someone out there just like them, going through exactly the same things they are going through.

 

I’ll just call out a few that I see as making a significant impact:

 

Manny Hernandez (http://www.tudiabetes.com/):  An ever-growing social network with clear purpose and direction.  His work with this community and the Diabetes Hands Foundation (http://diabeteshandsfoundation.org/ – is as Manny describes, “a nonprofit focused on connecting people touched by diabetes”) is changing the way we think about diabetes advocacy, awareness and fundraising.  Manny’s also seen the value of extending this community into Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other channels to fully extend the reach of his mission.

 

Jeff Hitchcock (http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/): A pioneer in this space in many ways, as his online community was one of the first, and one of the few that have taken it off-line too.  His following is enormous, his online community is very active, and most compelling is the translation of this movement off-line to the annual “Friends for Life” conference.  If you’ve never been to one, I encourage you to go and experience the magic of this event.  The most valuable lesson we, as Johnson & Johnson, have learned was to leave this special community untouched, despite now being part of our company. 

 

Kerri Morrone Sparling (http://www.sixuntilme.com/): An avid, influential, entertaining and engaging blogger in this space, who really brings the human aspect to diabetes.  Kerri also has branched out into YouTube, Twitter and the likes to spread her words of encouragement or simple everyday stories that make this real for everyone.

 

Amy Tendrich (http://www.diabetesmine.com/): As she mentions on her site, it is truly a “gold mine of straight talk and encouragement.”  Amy’s work with the 2009 DiabetesMine^TM Design Challenge, which she describes as “an online competition to encourage creative new tools for improving life with diabetes,” should send a wake up call to all manufacturers in this space. The ideas are not just coming from corporate R&D anymore.

 

Across the industry, the trend is shifting rapidly from company-driven campaigns to user-initiated conversations. The focus group is no longer just indoors, behind a one-way mirror-it’s online, across a myriad blogs, forums, tweetup’s and Facebook groups. We need to be involved in these conversations, both listening and participating – and most importantly, focused on adding value to the conversation.  Otherwise, we don’t belong there.

 

At Animas, we are pursuing various social media channels – in very much of a “test & learn,” with the clear focus on learn.  We want to see how we can interact with and relate to those who are looking for support. We’ve recently launched a YouTube Channel called Insulivin, where we plan to engage the community in user-submitted content. Insulivin has also given a few of our employees, including some who are living with diabetes, the chance to share their expertise and insights with the diabetes community.  We’re also exploring some other ideas on our own site, in addition to collaborating with some of our sister companies to establish a diabetes health & wellness group on Facebook.

 

To the extent we can listen more effectively to the collective dialogue online, our success will be measured not in impressions, but in a long-term, personal engagement with our patients.

 

So I guess we are defining our role as a listening and learning participant and potential resource.  But back to the original question, are we the ones to define it?  Or is the community?  If you are out there reading and have an opinion, let’s hear it.  I read plenty of your opinions of industry in the communities, let me know what you think directly.  Maybe we could even sit together at lunch…

From Kristin Cooke, Breast Care Specialist, Ethicon Endo-Surgery

October marks the beginning of many things each year: the falling of leaves, the first frost, Halloween and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You may have noticed the pink ribbons, gloves and hats worn by the players, coaches and refs of the NFL. You have probably seen billboards around your city advertising in pink. And if you have been anywhere near your local hospital, it is likely there are pink ribbons tied around trees or hanging from a banner atop the hospital. Many of you may be thinking, why all of the hoopla?

Well, here are some sobering facts. In 2009, the American Cancer Society (ACS) projects that over 250,000 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed and over 40,000 women will die of breast cancer. Worse is that thousands of cases will NOT be diagnosed because nearly 50% of woman over the age of age 40 will NOT get their mammograms. If you are like most people, you are probably thinking, this will not happen to me or someone in my life. Unfortunately, the numbers tell a different story.

In this year’s Breast Cancer Facts and Figures, the ACS predicts that women who are currently 40 years old have a 1 in 69 chance of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years. As you get older, the more at risk you become. For women who are currently 60, that risk increases to 1 in 27. Overall, the lifetime risk for all women of developing breast cancer at some point is 1 in 8.

What can you do to take an active role in you and your family’s breast health? The National Cancer Institute (NCI) recommends that women age 40 and older should have a mammogram every one or two years and those women at higher risk should discuss their personal breast prevention program with their health care provider. So as the leaves are changing and the children are getting ready to go trick or treating, make sure to remind the women in your life to get a mammogram. Tell your mother, your sister, your wife and all of your friends that early detection is the best form of prevention.

Given the current state of world affairs, it doesn’t take much these days to feel a bit down. But for some, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness are part of daily life. Depression can affect a person’s energy level, mood, and concentration as well as their personal relationships. According to the World Health Organization, 121 million people globally are affected by depression, which is also among the leading causes of disability around the world.

For many of us, these statistics are more than just numbers—they represent loved ones who struggle with depression. The stigma around mental health issues makes it a difficult topic to discuss, whether you are a patient or a caregiver, and can sometimes prevent people from seeking help.

To better understand the signs and symptoms of depression I reached out to a colleague at HealthMedia, which offers an Overcoming Depression digital coaching program. Dr. Richard Bedrosian, Director of Behavioral Health, explained that the earlier depression is recognized, the greater the chances are for successful treatment:

Genetic, environmental, and psychological factors have been shown to play a role in the onset of depression. Many people don’t even realize that they suffer from depression. So, it often goes untreated. Among the many symptoms associated with depression are:

• Difficulty sleeping
• Physical symptoms
• Feeling anxious and overwhelmed
• Loss of concentration
• Loss of physical energy
• Loss of hope and desire
• Anger and irritability
• Feeling alone and alienated
• Obsessive guilt or shame
• Thoughts of hurting oneself

The most important thing to remember is that most people who suffer from depression can be helped.

In recognition of Depression Awareness Month, the Johnson & Johnson health channel is featuring a few videos to shed light on some of the issues facing those who care for a family member with depression. In this first video, three women talk about when they recognized these signs and symptoms in their loved ones, and what it is like to live with a mother, husband, and child dealing with depression.

Last week, I was in Las Vegas to attend BlogWorld where Johnson & Johnson was one of two corporate sponsors of the event’s first-ever track on MedBlogging. Kim McAllister, one of the organizers of the Medblogging track, has a great synopsis over at Emergiblog, and together with Dr. Val Jones , pulled together a thoughtful series of panels throughout the day that drew some of the high rollers in medical and healthcare blogging from throughout North America — and even one, Bongi, who came all the way from South Africa!

As is often the case with these kinds of gatherings, it was great to finally put faces to names – and to see that the online personalities that they project through their blogs was a pretty dang close match to who they are in real life.

I had a chance to say a few things as part of a panel, alongside Paul Levy of Running a Hospital fame, who joined us virtually and Bob Stern from our co-sponsor, the medical news site MedPage Today, during our panel on “The Value of Blogs To Hospitals, Industry, and News Organizations.” Thanks to masterful moderating by Professor Gary Schwitzer whose Health News Review does its best to encourage responsible healthcare reporting, we covered a fair amount of ground — moving from how we each got involved, to covering some of the complexities associated with rolling the dice to make our blogs and sites a reality.

Though much was discussed throughout the day, one theme just kept coming up again and again — and that was what could all of us do to help ensure the accuracy of healthcare information that is available online. According to a recent report by Pew Internet & American Life, 61% of Americans go online for health information and of those, a majority access user-generated-health information when making decisions about their healthcare needs. But, unfortunately, much of what is spread online is misleading or in some cases completely unsupported by scientific or medical knowledge, a fact that Dr. Val Jones made clear during the panel she hosted.

As I sped back East after the conference, a couple of thoughts kept rattling around in my brain concerning what we all can do to try to encourage the spread of useful, scientific information:

1) While the online world is often a great source for medical information, there is a lot of misleading information out there.
2) There is more that medical professionals and others who have some scientific knowledge and information can do to provide clarity around confusing and often conflicting information about different medical conditions.
3) Companies that likewise have data and information should also be part of these discussions in some way.

Now, given it was just a one-day meeting, no real solutions were agreed upon. But based on the conversations that I had with some of the folks there, there seemed to be a consensus that we should all meet again, perhaps at a similar event, to discuss more that we can all do together. Suggestions for locations and approaches are welcome!

I’m sure there are other accounts of the MedBlogger track that I’ve failed to include, but below are a few that provide a nice synopsis:

KevinMD: Scenes from BlogWorld Expo 2009 and the Future of Medical Social Media
Dr. Anonymous: BlogWorld 09 HIPAA and Blogging

Oh and special thanks for making this event great also goes to Dr. Ramona Bates who create a quilt that everyone in attendance signed!

UPDATE:

Here’s another post on the MedBlogging track — this time from Dr. V — Medical Blogosphere Rising.

From Dr. Victor Miranda, General Manager of Diabetes Juvenil

Given the volume of medical information on the Internet, you might think that reliable and accurate information about diabetes is readily available. While this may be true for online diabetes resources in English, dependable information about diabetes is harder to come by for those around the globe who speak Spanish.  (Dele un clic aquí para leer en español)

This is surprising given the prevalence of diabetes in the Hispanic population. I’ll give you an example from the U.S., where I live. According to the most recent national survey data from the NIDDK (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) for people ages 20 or older, 10.4% of Hispanics have been diagnosed with diabetes. Among this segment, the rates for Cubans were 8.2%, 11.9% for Mexican Americans and 12.6% for Puerto Ricans. For those who are first and second generation Hispanic-Americans, Spanish is predominately the primary language spoken at home. What is a parent to do when they receive the news that their child has diabetes? Where can they go for information after the 15-20 minute medical visit is over? 

While I found the lack of accessible information in Spanish to be very concerning, our team involved in Children With Diabetes also recognized the importance of helping to foster a community where Spanish-language speakers affected by diabetes could connect. Diabetes Juvenil provides a dynamic place where information can be shared freely and in Spanish, through forums and chats. The interactive forums and chats provide a way for people living with diabetes to discuss topics with other people just like them — people who really identify with what it is to be a patient with diabetes, a caregiver, a parent or grandparent of someone with diabetes. Being able to connect with others around the world who speak the same language is particularly important for families who are experiencing a void of information due to language barriers.

We are also striving to provide links to other groups that are aiming to offer the Spanish- speaking population services similar to other portals available in English, such as links to organizations  capable of providing medications that are either free of charge or at discounted prices, as well as organizations for young adults or the elderly living with diabetes.

We realize there is much more that can be done, but we hope that Diabetes Juvenil is a good start. Let us know if there are other things we can be doing to help patients with diabetes. We’re always looking for ways to help and language shouldn’t be a barrier.