The website Healtheo360.com allows individuals to post personal stories about dealing with health conditions, including PTSD.
By Courtenay Higgins
Healtheo360 is an online community where people with chronic conditions can find encouragement and relevant health information for more than 100 conditions.
The site brings together individuals, caregivers, family members, and friends. Its founder and CEO, Dave Duplay, said patients and caregivers learn through shared experiences. For people dealing with traumatic issues, or daily health problems, they realize they are not alone. That understanding led healtheo360 to launch a support section for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“As the older brother of a veteran, it deeply pains me to know that some of the young men and women who have so bravely served our country are suffering from PTSD,” says Duplay, who founded healtheo360 in 2012 after his sister-in-law had been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer and his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. “At healtheo360, we have created a place for individuals suffering from PTSD to come and share their stories. It is our hope that anyone suffering from PTSD will know that they are not alone.”
While all components of the site are important to the community, video sharing is truly the heart of healtheo360. The library of videos available is full of health journals covering symptoms, diagnoses, treatment, remission, and various other health topics. “Members find these videos to be helpful and inspirational,” Duplay said.
Members’ footage covers a wide spectrum. Videos consist of testimonials, health events, and educational and inspirational stories. Some participants demonstrate how they are coping with each stage of their conditions. For a condition like PTSD, which can often linger silently, healtheo360 is an ideal location to learn about symptoms that are not easily recognizable. The Department of Veterans Affairs supports healtheo360’s mantra that sharing stories helps individuals deal with similar traumas. “In a caring network, you receive not only support services, but also a concept known as Virtual Social Therapy, Peer Counseling, Educational Materials, and Videos,” Duplay says. “VST is a form of palliative care combined with supportive peer-therapy, which consists of proven methods of improving health outcomes for those with chronic conditions.”
With an abundance of resources across so many different conditions, Duplay hopes the site provides individuals suffering from any condition, as well as their family members and friends, the support they need. “Imagine, having a safe place to turn to where you can find other people just like you,” Duplay says, “a place where you can find support, inspiration, advice, motivation, information, and so much more.”