Online forums/communities for older adults w/ diabetes & obesity

March 26, 2011 6:18 AM

What are some good online forums/communities for older adults w/ diabetes & obesity?

Someone close in my family has been suffering for some time now w/ obesity, diabetes, and something called Hidrendanitis Supperativa, which is basically sores scattered around the body, especially in areas of high friction, that don't heal very well. She also has problems with her hip, arthritis, etc. The end result is she's in a lot of pain, and doesn't get out a whole lot. She's in her late 50's and is home alone quite a bit.

She's extremely internet-savvy, so I want to find her some online forums/communities where people with similar challenges are discussing their problems and potential solutions. Maybe she'll find some treatments she hadn't considered before; maybe she'll find some inspiration; or at the very least, maybe she'll find some people that can relate to her pain.

Any suggestions? Forums, mailing lists, private social networks, Facebook groups, etc -- all welcome. Thanks!

posted by jruckman to health & fitness (5 answers total)

Sparkpeople is a huge dieting website with thousands of participants. There is a lot of basic information about diet and exercise, and a huge forum section which is divided into groups. A member can sort through the groups and find one that meets their needs, whether it's obesity, pain, local members, older/younger, etc. If you can't find a group, you can create one.
posted by CathyG at 6:43 AM on March 26, 2011

TuDiabetes sounds like it'll fit the bill. It's aimed at diabetics (obviously) and other issues that can arise along with being diabetic (physical and mental health issues). I've been a member a long time and found it very useful. I don't visit much anymore, but that's due to me not TuDiabetes.
posted by deborah at 5:11 PM on March 26, 2011

I second SparkPeople as mentioned before. They have regional, disease, interest, etc. based groups you can join and fairly active blog network. Plus, the content the site puts out is very informative.
posted by ilikemethisway at 6:26 PM on March 26, 2011

I went looking around and found some more...

www.dlife.com - this has lots of separate forums for type/gender/age and the numbers of posts indicates that it is pretty active.

Here's one at WebMD.com - it looks kind of unorganized - all posts go in the same topic and are sorted chronologically, so this might be ok if you become a regular and keep up with it, but it doesn't look so easy to look through the archives to find something specific. But WebMD has a reputation for providing good advice about health, so it could be useful.

Here's one at Prevention.com. This one seems to be more social - most of the posts are members talking about their lives and checking in with each other.

Oh, and don't forget About.com. I like this site because they separate sections: an expert who writes articles about the topic, plus forums where anyone can ask/answer questions.

I found all these by googling "diabetes forums" or "diabetes community".
Which, by the way, is how I found all kinds of information when I got a new Palm Centro phone, Android phone, vegetable garden, started walking for health, etc. Just add the word "forums" to your search and you'll find a group of people talking about it.
posted by CathyG at 8:35 PM on March 28, 2011

Anyone interested in the Spark People group the invite to the private group is in this MetaTalk thread. We would love your input.
posted by dog food sugar at 1:51 AM on April 19, 2011