In the 12 years since her daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Krista Duncan has tried many different tools to track blood sugar readings, insulin rates, food amounts and see what those all mean.
But nothing has really stuck as being useful.
Not until the S5th Advantage, that is. Now, the Duncans say the new online portal has made all the difference in managing the health of their daughter Molly, diagnosed at age 2 and now a 14-year-old in high school.
“We’ve seen things come and go for diabetes management,” the Carmel, Indiana mother said. “So far, I think (the) diabetes portal is the most flexible, engaging diabetes tool that we have used.”
The new web-based portal launched earlier this year is designed to help diabetics combine all of their insulin pump, blood meter, and CGM data into one place online and get that to their doctors quickly and efficiently. This tool combines the clinical, social, and behavioral aspects in a way that hasn’t been done before. Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics can securely communicate with their physicians and nurses while also interacting online with other diabetics within their community or across the country. As the name hints, the portal is simple, strategic, smart, social, and self management - all in one place.
With personally customizable dashboards and settings, patients and families are able to upload numbers from any device and see those results with color graphs, charts, and summaries. Users can add notes to the Blood Sugar Logs and quickly email those results to their doctor’s offices, as well as interact with other parents or patients who might have similar concerns about their own health.
So far, those who’ve used the system think it’s an effective management tool – from the newly-diagnosed to the veterans. They agree that this is about More Than Numbers, because it not only gives them a way to monitor and understand their results but implement changes based on that data and then interact with others about that information. From medical professionals to fellow patients.
Jennifer is one mom new to the Diabetes World, as her 8-year-old son Gavin was diagnosed in January and the family is new to this D-World. This is the first management tool they’ve used.
“I am all about technology so I jumped on board immediately,” she said. “I like the S5Health for the fact that it is user friendly, all the information is there in one place, you can customize it with notes, carb-insulin ratios, doctor appointments, and more. It’s nice that once you upload the information that with the click of the mouse it can be sent directly to the doctor/nurse practioner. We are contemplating the idea of the school nurse inputting the data each day so that the paper/folder doesn't get lost in transit.”
For the Duncan Family that’s been living with diabetes for more than a decade now, S5Health means being able to plug into a week or two-week period rather than just navigating a single day’s worth of BG readings. As a busy family navigating priorities such as homework, sports, work, and family events, they agree that S5Health’s online flexibility gives a quick way to manage that data.
Mostly, Krista Duncan says they like seeing the graphical data of where their daughter’s BG readings are at. How the color pie charts show specifically how much they are High, Low, or On Target for any given period and how events such as food or exercise impact those numbers. They like the idea that S5Health will offer reminder functions to help them remember to take a few minutes to upload the numbers from the two meters the y have between home and school.
“The ability to upload and have all the data together in one place is the best part of this tool,” Krista Duncan says. “Also, having it be web-based is great. I used it last week to fill out a form that Riley needed to get a diabetes management plan to the school nurse. Because I had (my daughter’s) basal rates, corrections, and food ratios entered on the website, I was able to fill out the form at work on my lunch hour and fax it to Riley.”
Her daughter also attends a high school with six other Type 1 diabetic students, so Krista Duncan looks forward to being able to the school nurse being able to login and use the S5Health Advantage tool during the school day and monitor each student’s information easily.
Krista Duncan hopes that more parents start participating in the forums, so that there’s more of a chance to interact about the daily diabetes activity and any questions that may come up. Others forums and sites like TuDiabetes and Children With Diabetes offer those resources and hundreds of people worldwide can connect at any time with each other.
As far as Riley Hospital for Children, Krista Duncan also hopes that the medical professionals will start more actively promoting and using the S5Health Advantage. She sees this as a way to improve outreach with patients after the kids have been diagnosed a while and a way for them to communicate or for the parents to interact.
Michael is a 31-year-old writer and Diabetes Advocate who’s been living with Type 1 diabetes since the age of 5. By day, he is a newspaper journalist in Indiana. But in his spare time, he focuses his time and effort on Diabetes Advocacy operates a personal blog, The Diabetic’s Corner Booth. He also volunteers with local, national, and worldwide diabetes-related charities and initiatives and tries to help fellow diabetics better Live With Diabetes. His personal and professional worlds aren’t connected, except that Michael takes on both roles in whatever time is available in a given day. This is how he became involved with S5Health, in which Michael now writes for a little each week in a strictly volunteer capacity. Originally from the Southeast Michigan area near Detroit, Michael and his wife Susanne have lived in Indianapolis since 2004.
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