Diabetes: Engaging Patients Online

In honor of American Diabetes Month, Sharecare is looking at some of our friends who are making a difference in the lives of people with diabetes, particularly in the world of online communications. We’re excited to see that Sanofi is empowering the diabetes community in multiple ways, from partnering with leaders in digital and social media to supporting Team Type 1 racing teams and its athletes (the running team is currently doing a non-stop, 24-hour per day, relay-style run that will finish around World Diabetes Day on November 14, 2011. It is the first-ever such effort by a team of runners with diabetes).

Here Sanofi’s Michele F. Polz, Head of Patient Solutions, US Diabetes (pictured above), answers questions about the company’s commitment to engaging with patients online.

Q: Why is it important to engage with patients online in the diabetes community?
A: As part of our commitment to the diabetes community, we created online social media resources to connect with the diabetes online community, provide accurate information, education, encourage dialogue, and help empower people living with diabetes to make better-informed decisions about their condition. We look to members of the diabetes online community for feedback on how we can add value, and strive to provide solutions.

Q: How can industry engage in the conversation with the diabetes community?
A: All of our social and digital media platforms were created as part of the commitment by Sanofi US to integrate key learnings from the diabetes community and provide users with resources to help them feel empowered, help them make better-informed decisions about their condition, or to help others. We want to create a dialogue with people living with diabetes and their caregivers while providing a place for them to share their experiences with us. Our goal is to become a partner with the community and listen to their needs and provide solutions, where we can.

Q: What is Sanofi doing to support the diabetes community today?
A: Sanofi strives to help people manage the complex challenges of diabetes by delivering innovative, integrated and personalized solutions. Our vision is to serve as a valued partner to the diabetes community which we hope to accomplish by listening and engaging in a dialogue directly with people living with diabetes. To help with this, we have even formed an internal team called Patient Solutions, specifically dedicated to this purpose.

Sanofi US is committed to staying as current as possible with emerging trends in digital and social media, and we are proud and committed to our virtual presence through GoMeals®, our Facebook page, our Twitter handle and the “Discuss Diabetes” blog.

Q: And what are your plans for the future?
A: We will continue to actively engage with the diabetes community in the future. We are open to hearing new ideas from the members of the diabetes online community on how we can add most value, and we use the feedback to guide the development of future offerings and resources.

Q: What else is Sanofi doing to support community innovation?
A: We have already kicked off our own Data, Design, Diabetes Innovation Challenge, a next-generation challenge that brings together the richness of open data sets, the values of human-centered design and the leading-edge methodology of the top innovation accelerators to find the next breakthrough to help millions of Americans living with diabetes.

File under: In the News