Increasing awareness of this fourm.

After logging on today i was surprised by the limited number of peopel contributing to the forum. I know it's in it's infancy but i am sure there are more DAFNE graduates and other people with diabetes out there who would like to contribute. So, i have just emailed the 'Diabetes Education Support Administrator' at University Hospitals Leicester (where i did my course a few years ago) to see if she can remind people. It would be useful if some other DAFNE graduates could find the time to ask their respective hospitals or DAFNE administrators to email or circulate the web address to other DAFNE graduates? After all, the more people using the forum the better for everyone. Just a thought....... Widster

We have a mechanism in place to get the message out to the DAFNE Educators at each centre, sending them flyers with registration instructions, and also instructions on how to generate a registration code for their centre. It is then in their hands to spread the message to their graduates, as they are the only ones who know who has been educated at their centre - there is no central list of DAFNE Graduates, which is a shame. So far this has given us mixed results, with some centres (such as Leicester) getting a high number of Educator + Graduate signups, whilst other centres have had no presence on the site at all. Obviously we'd like to improve this as most feedback we've had has been positive and people really think this is a great support resource. So... Echoing what Widster said - let your DAFNE Educator/fellow Graduates know about the site, spread the word any way you can. If you think of a new, innovative way to market the site then let us know, we'll do everything we can to make it bigger, better and more accessible to those who need it most.

Thanks for the comments Simon. Just to let you know that the educator at Leicester has today sent out an email to all the Leicester DAFNE graduates, past and present, giving a link to the site and also giving the registration code. I'm really pleased that she has done this as others may now benefit from the site and we will benefit from their input.

Also, one other way i have thought of to get increased coverage of the forum would be a write up or comment in 'Balance' magazine.

I asked my DAFNE nurse about getting a code because I lost my original letter telling me I was a graduate, which from what I understand the code was on it but I couldn't work out where it was on the leaflet before losing it. Has anyone else had this trouble? Unfortunately, the new code the nurse gave me was incorrect so I will be asking again....

I do recommend DAFNE to those that I know just incase they know someone who might need it... I really ought to think to recommend this forum too! I shall in future.

Widster,
Thanks for your positive actions, I agree it would be good if others could do the same with such positive results. To this end we will be approaching members of the site in the near future in the guise of the DAFNE User Action Group. This is the elected 'users group' for the DAFNE programme. The group has only just had its first meeting and is still getting orgainised, but in the near future there will be more information about the group on this site and requests for your involvement in publicising and moving DAFNE forward.

In the mean time thank you again for your efforts !