The Diabetes Advocates (DA) is open to new applications for membership.
The DA is a group of individuals who join together to help people be more successful living with diabetes. Currently we have approximately 80 members.
The DA is a project of the Diabetes Hands Foundation (DHF.) We are partially funded by the DHF through grants received and partially through membership dues.
The DA looks to connect individuals who are actively advocating for people with diabetes. We think that though connecting with other with similar interest members will be more effective. We expect members to engage in initiatives of interest with other DA members.
Advocacy is taking public action to support a cause. The DA seeks to improve the lives of people with diabetes through the activities of our members.
Advocacy can be: raising funds for diabetes causes, raising diabetes awareness, commenting
to regulators with a diabetes patient perspective, sharing support online, creating local support opportunities, educating, writing, speaking, supporting, supplying those in needs and more. An advocate can seek influence one person at a time, a few or many.
Advocacy reaches beyond profession. Advocates may or may not be employed in diabetes fields but their efforts reach past their business responsibilities.
In 2012 the DA:
- Created press releases better reporting diabetes issues and the relationship of mental health and diabetes
- We produced a social media hand out and members participated in a social media roundtable at the American Association of Diabetes Educators annual meeting
- Created a Ning site for member discussions
- Developed a Weekly member newsletter
- Drafted an open letter reply to an NPR story on the value of social media to diabetes patients with well over one hundred people joining as signatories
In 2013 we hope to build on these efforts.
If you are still interested in joining, we would love to have you submit an application. We require at least a one year history of diabetes advocacy. As part of the application, we are interested in learning the issues that you have in diabetes advocacy to understand how your experience can help the DA better serve people with diabetes.
We look forward to getting to know you.