Healthline Connects with Patient Advocates at the HealtheVoices 2017 Conference

HealtheVoices, an annual conference that brings together online advocates with various health conditions, was held in Chicago, Illinois, from April 21 to 23, 2017. Since its inception three years ago, the convention, presented by Janssen, has aimed to connect patient bloggers and online health advocates through sharing and learning experiences.

This year, Healthline was an event co-sponsor participating on a panel and providing media support, which included creating a Twitter Takeover. Healthline also created shareable #HealtheVoices17 images, quotes, and messages, and spread them across its social channels.

This year’s overarching theme was “Together We Thrive.” The goal of HealtheVoices is to bring together health advocates and patient bloggers from around the world who are grappling with conditions across the spectrum of health, from autoimmune disorders to mental health conditions.

Several other takeaways emerged from this year’s conference, including the idea that people don’t just want to live well with a condition — they want to thrive.

Another revolved around speaking up: Most patient participants started speaking up in order to find others like themselves. These advocates, who understand the patient need for empathy and compassion, began chronicling their experiences of living with challenging health conditions and freely sharing their experiences. This was also reiterated in panel discussions, where the idea that the overwhelming response to such openness has been supporting, better understanding, and an alternative narrative to entrenched stigmas.

Indeed, Healthline brought together Todd Bello of OvercomingPsoriasis.com and Josh Robbins, an HIV advocate, for a Facebook Live talk from the conference. This and three other Facebook Live videos were streamed to the Healthline’s psoriasisdiabetesdepression, and Crohn’s disease Facebook communities, for a total of more than 10,000 views.

The Healthline Twitter Takeover, led by conference participant and Healthline writer Kirsten Schultz, received almost 20,000 impressions. The social engagements and event experiences align with Healthline’s commitment to inspiring empathy and starting conversations.

Healthline’s participation in HealtheVoices embodies the company’s mission to create a stronger, healthier world.

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