NetSquared enables social benefit organizations to leverage the tools of the social web.

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Be NetSquared: Year 3

Want a N2Y3 recap? View attendee blogs, vlogs and comments at Be NetSquared.

Congratulations to the N2Y3 Winners, in order: Ushahidi, KnowMore.org and Social Actions! Continue to show your support for all 21 Featured Projects. See the DonateNow and Yahoo! Green winners on the Challenges and Awards page.

CareFlash... Community when it matters most

The Idea:

What will change in the world because this Project happens?

CareFlash delivers unprecedented healthcare advocacy and education to people in the richest circumstances imaginable, while offering philanthropic benefits to healthcare foundations, advocacy groups and religious institutions. This mashup integrates advocacy, animations, medical info and web 2.0.

When someone learns they (or their loved one) have been diagnosed with a chronic healthcare challenge, a flurry of painful emotions appear ranging from fear and feelings of aloneness, to anxiety, uncertainty and even depression. As families navigate this experience together, it commonly becomes clear that people are unprepared and inexperienced at the realities of serving as caretakers. We address these challenges, empowering users to:

Post updates in a private blog, which are automatically sent via email to the community members. These CareFlashes can eliminate 30-40 conversations a day for a caretaker, freeing them to provide substantial attention to the patient. CareFlash recipients can reply to the messages and updates with well-wishes, prayers and messages of support. It’s common where the family pastor will engage in these exchanges, bringing strength and faith to all involved.

Educate people on the particular disorder at hand, specific treatment options, and other health concerns through easy to understand 3-D animations, produced by Blausen Medical, the best interactive medical resources available anywhere. They are narrated in everyday English, Spanish and other languages and encompass hundreds of healthcare topics ranging from pregnancy and neonatal issues to cancer, cardiovascular, ears/eyes, neurological, genetic, bladder/kidney, digestive/mouth, endocrine, blood/immune, respiratory, orthopedic, skin/cosmetic and others.

When medical challenges happen, help is continually needed. But egos get in the way, no one wants to be intrusive and, although everyone says “If there’s anything we can do, please let us know…” asking for help is awkward. When help is needed with errands, meals and countless other tasks, entries are easily created allowing people to sign-up to help. Our iHelp Calendar helps ensure that tasks are met when and where it’s convenient for the members, saving the patient from experiences like having 3 families show up with meals one evening or visitation when the patient needs privacy.

What information will people interact with to make this change?

To effect this change, CareFlash provides people the ability to interact through a framework to manage all of the moving parts where healthcare circumstances present themselves to a person and their community.


Cancer

Today alone, 5,400 people in the U.S. learned that they have been diagnosed with cancer. 21 million are currently battling diabetes. 10% of people aged 60 years old have Alzheimer's... and this figure grows exponentially as the 80 million baby boomers continue to age. Across the board, the numbers are scary. CareFlash works through healthcare advocacy groups to assist them in serving people based on the specific circumstances at hand.

What else have you done in this Cause Area?

The founder of CareFlash spoke at NetSquared Houston in December and, since then, we have formed alliances with the Houston chapter's January and February meeting speakers. Ms. Wheelchair Texas (Jan) and AIDS Foundation Houston (Feb) both deliver highly compelling value, as healthcare advocacy groups, to people in circumstances that really matter. Where life is celebrated, community is engaged, and the quality of life for patients and caretakers are all dramatically improved... CareFlash is the virtual glue that brings this all together... and does so for free.


AIDS

The Assessment

What kind of help or resources do you need to turn your project idea into a completed mashup?

Input on ways we can be more effective at leveraging other components in our mashup. More independent bloggers (a la a Digg-based model that we're developing), healthcare advocacy groups and healthcare institutions.

The Team

Host

Cisco

Sponsors

  • Microsoft
  • Yahoo
  • Business Objects
  • Raincity Studios
  • Mozilla Foundation
  • Ready Talk
  • .
  • Adobe
  • Linden Lab
  • Network For Good
  • Wild Apricot
  • Stanford Social Innovation Review
  • L'Atelier North America
  • The Panelist
  • Good
  • Fora.tv
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