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I just found this health related video on YouTube … and thought you might enjoy it!

youtube.com/watch?v=wGL5FOEqKww%3Ff%3Dvideos%26app%3Dyoutube_gdata

Follow Me On Twitter: www.twitter.com/NYCRAiGK

Tell us what you think about this video in the comments below, or in the Battling For Health Community Forum!
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Harnessing the power of social media to #beatcancer

Remember the post I had a couple of months back on how the Internet is spreading health news? Well, this was recently demonstrated by the #beatcancer campaign whose aim was to get into the Guinness Book of World Record as the most number of social media messages in a span of 24 hours. The campaign achieved started on October 16 at 9 am PDT and ended at the same time the following day with a total of 209,771 social messages. But before we continue, let us first try to define social media. Can we? We can only try except that there are too many definitions out there. My favorite definition is from bottlepr which says that social media are:

“…software tools that allow groups to generate content and engage in peer-to-peer conversations and exchange of content.”

Examples of social media tools are YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, Twitter, etc. but there are many more.

Now the #beatcancer campaign did not go for all of these but only for the two most popular ones – twitter and facebook. When I logged in to my twitter account on October 17, I got a message that says there are too many tweets coming, thus I’d have to wait for a moment. That was the first time ever that I got such a message.

So who’s behind the campaign?

“#BeatCancer is a social media experiment and movement created by Everywhere, a social media communications and content company based in Atlanta, Georgia. [The purpose is] …to see if they could compete to set a record for the distribution of the largest mass message through social media.”

But it wasn’t just any other social media publicity stunt. It was for the benefit of a social cause, a cancer that everybody knows – battling cancer.

For every tweet, Facebook update, or blog post mentioning “#beatcancer”, corporate sponsors Ebay/Paypal and MillerCoors Brewing Company donated a penny to the cause.

The beneficiaries are four non-profit organizations accredited by The American Cancer Society, and are listed below:

• Stand Up To Cancer is a new initiative created to accelerate groundbreaking cancer research, getting new therapies to patients quickly and saving lives.
• Alex’s Lemonade Stand’s mission is to raise money and awareness of childhood cancer causes and educate others, especially children, to raise money for childhood cancer by holding their own lemonade stands.
• Bright Pink is a national non-profit organization that provides education and support to young women who are at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
• Spirit Jump is a grassroots non-profit organization with a mission to provide hope and comfort to the many men, women and children battling cancer.

The record has been set but the campaign in not over. Check out the #beatcancer site to see how you can help.

Win Free Advertising On This Blog All Summer 2009

Greetings!

I am running an online survey from now until June 20th, 2009, which I call .. “The PetLvr Twitter Survey” ..

It’s a short survey and isn’t too painful 🙂

At the end of this survey, there are instructions how to enter my contest. I am offering up to 3 slots on each blog AndYouWill.com and BattlingForHealth.com to 3 random winners for each blog – for 125x125px banners in the sidebar during the months of July and August 2009.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a banner .. I will find someone to create one for you!

If you are not on twitter yet … go create an account twitter.com/ and at least reserve your favorite nickname or handle or real name before someone else does!

Thank-You
HART

How the Internet is spreading health news

Resource post for April

Time was when dissemination of health information is a complicated affair. How do you reach billions of people in the four corners of the earth – fast?

Nowadays, spreading health news is easier than ever – through Internet technology. You can receive news on your computer, on your PDA, your black berry or your mobile phone simultaneously in real time. And health agencies are taking advantage of this technology to send out health news, issue healthcare warnings, and increase awareness. More and more health organizations and advocacy groups use the Internet to campaign and lobby for health and healthcare issues.

Let’s check out how you can avail of what is being offered out there – online and for free.

FDA twitters

With the recent large-scale peanut product, and now pistachio product recalls, the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has a set up a twitter account that consumers can follow to receive regular “tweets” or updates on which products to avoid. Twitter is easy and very user friendly and works well both for Internet-based and phone-based technology. Check out twitter.com/fdarecalls, follow and get tweets.

Other twitter accounts you might want to check out:

American Heart Association twitter.com/AHAScience

CDC health e-cards

Want to send an e-card? Why not a health e-card? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has created a wide range of e-cards with health messages and reminders for all occasion and covering almost all health topics from bride safety, to pregnancy, to children vaccination, and taking care of the elderly. The e-cards provide a unique opportunity to say hello, sending warm greetings, and show your family and friends that you are concerned about them and their health.

Google flu trends

Keeping up to date about the flu epidemic is now as easy as googling. Since last year, the CDC and Google have joined forces to track seasonal flu through. Through Google flu trends, the public can easily access information about the where’s and when’s of flu outbreaks. While previous flu tracking systems by the CDC rely on sentinel healthcare providers that reported cases of flu in their area, Google bases their trends on data gathered from the use of the search engine on topics related to flu. And surprisingly enough, CDC and Google data show a very good match except that Google is about two weeks ahead of time.

AHQR pod casts

The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) regularly produces audio podcasts through the news series Healthcare 411. The news series covers health topics from heart disease to cancer to diabetes, to more general healthcare news. Great for listening in your car radio, mp3 player or ipod.

Cleveland Clinic web health chats

One of the best hospitals in the US, Cleveland Clinic regularly organizes online health chats which allow patients to ask questions and get information from the hospital’s pool of experts. Participation is easy and for free.

Google Health and Health Vault

Google launched Google Health in 2007, a service that offers secure, online personalized health record services. In other words, your medical records are store online accessible on to you and those whom you give authorization to, e.g. your family and your healthcare provider.

One of Google Health’s most prestigious partners is Cleveland Clinic.

A similar service is offered by Microsoft HealthVault. It has joined forces, for example, with the American Heart Association to run AHA’s programs Heart360 and the HeartHub which allows patients to monitor and manage cardiovascular health using on online tools, e.g. blood pressure monitoring, risk assessment, and dietary planning.

Everybody’s on You Tube

During the peanut recalls in the US earlier this year, the US FDA released several You Tube video clips to inform people better about the recalls. After all, people tend to listen more if they can see the face behind the voice. The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) launched a public service campaign with Chandra Wilson as spokesperson on the safe and appropriate use over-the-counter cough and cold medicine. Through You Tube of course.

Health blogs

Blogs such as this one also try to bring you the latest health news and updates. And by commenting, you can even express your thoughts and opinion. Subscribe to out RSS feed (twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/19621763.rss) for the latest update. Or we can tweet you as well if you follow us at twitter.com/Battling.

Technology is such a wonderful thing. It connects us to the world and vice versa. While social networking is a great way to meet people on cyberspace and improve your social life, you should also use this technology to manage and improve your health.

Photo credit: stock.xchng