08 February 2012

New UpBete site supports children with type 1 diabetes

Tom Holland

A new website, created by MyKnowledgeMap with Leeds School of Medicine and Leeds Children's Hospital, offers online support to children and families affected by type 1 diabetes.

The site offers powerful tools designed to help children and their families to manage the condition, making it easier for them to identify patterns and risks themselves. As well as a tool which lets users log blood insulin levels and share them with the clinic at Leeds Childrens Hospital, there are social tools for sharing recipes and experiences with other families.

The UpBete project was officially launched at a well-attended event at the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds. The launch of the website follows a series of consultation workshops with children who are diabetes patients at Leeds Children's Hospital and their families: the site itself and the tools inside were designed by the children and families themselves.

Part funded by the NHS Strategic Health Authority for Yorkshire and the Humber, the site is built on MyKnowledgeMap's popular ReallyManaging Knowledge platform, ensuring that it can scale in the future to support people with type 1 diabetes nationally.