FSR’s partner Inspire, which serves as the platform for our online support group- “Stop Sarcoidosis”- has hit 1 million members! Inspire provides a space for online support communities that allow patients to connect with others like them, regardless of geography. While attending an in-person support group meeting is always a good idea, this is not as easy for patients with a rare disease, especially those who don’t live in a major city or might have physical limitations. Inspire has groups for almost any illness or disorder you could imagine. We are proud that the Stop Sarcoidosis group has over 30,000 members and a strong sense of community responsibility. Many patients reference their close friends that they’ve made through the website, and some even meet up with those friends in person to lend support in times of need. New members are always welcome, and support will always be given. This community also allows patients to ask questions and vent about daily life with sarc, something which they might not be able to do with friends or loved ones who can’t truly understand the burden of living with such a disease.
Learn more about the Stop Sarcoidosis Inspire group and join the community.
Below is a press release about Inspire hitting the 1 million member mark, the original of which can be found here.
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ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Leading healthcare social network Inspire has reached the milestone of one million registered members.
“It’s gratifying and humbling to see the community’s growth,” said Brian Loew, co-founder and CEO of Inspire. “We see it as a testament to the wisdom of empowered patients and caregivers who are leading a movement toward patient-centered care.”
Inspire is known for not just the size of the community but for the activity of the patients and caregivers interacting in more than 200 online groups. Last year, Inspire reached another milestone of one billion words written by its community members.
“The rate at which members are finding and joining Inspire is accelerating exponentially,” said Richard Tsai, VP of marketing at Inspire. “Patients and caregivers across several thousand reported conditions are writing about their experiences, and generating relevant language that others who are facing similar experience can find.”
This sharing of information can be particularly useful for rare disease patients who often have trouble getting an accurate diagnosis, and for cancer patients who are in dire need of support to make the best possible treatment decisions.
Loew noted that Inspire is adding more communities and nonprofit partners regularly. “While we have more improvements planned for our online platform,” he added, “we are committed to ensuring that the focus will continue to be on the wonderful patients and caregivers who share and connect with each other every day in our community.”
About Inspire
Inspire (www.inspire.com) is the patient engagement company. Founded in 2005, Inspire creates and manages health support communities in partnership with over 100 nonprofit organizations, including the American Lung Association, National Psoriasis Foundation, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance, the Arthritis Foundation, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. Inspire works with its pharmaceutical clients to help them explore engagement and insight opportunities with these highly engaged populations of patients. Inspire helps companies integrate patient-centricity into the pharmaceutical product lifecycle, from clinical trial design and recruitment to post-marketing brand/unbranded activities.