T1Resources – hopefully a good place to start

That brief comment Partha made to Mike about discussing a new idea got me intrigued.
“If I can help, let me know” was my reply as we left the TalkT1 event in January.
A few weeks later that idea was discussed between a few of us and so started the project which became T1Resources: a new web site for Type 1 Diabetes information, where linked content would be reviewed by both a health care professional (HCP) and either a person with diabetes (PWD) or a parent of a child with Type 1, like me.

A new idea?

There’s already so much information out there on the web but who knows what is valid, what is inline with clinical/medical advice, what isn’t, what’s just plain wacky and finally what’s that never-going-to-work-Type-1-cure-with-cinnamon.
T1Resources aims to address that issue by having links to useful information, with each link being reviewed by both one HCP and one PWD/parent.

A project with some backing

To work well and be effective this new site would need to get some decent (non-financial) backing, so Sophie – the project lead – started contacting many of the UK Diabetes industry charities and groups such as Diabetes UK, JDRF and INPUT.
So far it’s got the backing of two of the main charities and many of the groups frequented by the UK’s leading Consultants, Doctors and health care professionals. It’s early days so hopefully more will follow.

Reviewing the resources

Each HCP/PWD review is done separately from one another and it is then decided whether or not that resource is added. I’m not going to blog about the process as it’s constantly evolving at the moment.
In short if both HCP and PWD think the resource is valuable it will be added, if both say it’s rubbish it won’t be added. Anywhere in between and the editorial team will step in.
Of course, it’s not quite as simple as that.

Choosing the resources

Initially the team compiled a list of potentially usefull resources, several hundred were reviewed, many were rejected, the remaining were reviewed properly and one by one added to the site – something we’re still doing actually.
But that’s not the vision for T1Resources, the vision is that this resource is for PWDs/HCPs, by PWDs/HCPs, so there’s a page for suggesting a new resource to be reviewed/added. Not all suggestions will be added but each will be reviewed.

A few “thank you”s from me

To everyone involved in this project up to now and in the future, this couldn’t work without a lot of dedication. From the tiniest of ideas to hopefully a very useful web site, I look forward to seeing this site grow.
To Sophie for leading this project and tying it all together, this never could have happened without your input.
To Mike for all your tireless work. I doubt any of us really know just how many hours you’ve put into this, of the work you’ve given up to do ‘just another bit’, to the family events you’ve now doubt missed out on. I love design of T1Resources – apart from the bits I don’t 😉 Hopefully you can put your feet up soon for a little rest.