Bennet is a parent of two type 1 diabetic teens and he has pre-type 2 diabetes himself. Initially he had much to learn as managing chronic disease can be difficult and isolating. As time went on he found that good communication leads to better physical and emotional care. The process of moving from scared parent of a chronically ill child to advocate has provided him with knowledge he shares. Today, he blogs about Type 1 diabetes. He writes about raising children to grow to independently manage their diabetes and he works with other advocates to influence the legal and regulatory framework that constrains diabetes care. He was an amateur in health communications. He recently obtained a masters degree in health communications to help a wider population of people living with diabetes as a professional.

In 2012, Bennet developed Drinking With Diabetes, a resource for young adults with Type 1 Diabetes (and members of their support networks!) interested in learning how to drink responsibly:
http://www.drinkingwithdiabetes.com/

His latest endeavor is StripSafely (http://StripSafely.com), an advocacy initiative that you have been exposed to through TuDiabetes and other diabetes social media. We are honored to have Bennet join us today to tell us more about this important initiative, where it’s at and where it’s going.

4 ways to engage with StripSafely (do all of them):
1) Via Twitter: http://www.stripsafely.com/the-twitter-page/
2) Via letter: http://www.stripsafely.com/sample-page/
3) Participating in the Strip Safely edition of Diabetes Art Day: http://www.diabetesartday.com/diabetes-art-day-2013/special-edition-strip-safely/
4) Completing and sharing this petition:
http://diatribe.org/petition

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Uploaded by: Diabetes Hands Foundation
Hosted: youtube