NEW YORK, N.Y. – Self Care Catalysts – a patient intelligence, analytics and solutions company has partnered with SAGE, the country’s largest organization for LGBT elders, to announce the release of the latest addition to its suite of Health Storylines™ self-care tools. Health Storylines™ is a unique disease management platform that enables individuals to put together an accurate story about their health to better inform themselves, their care team and researchers.
The SAGE Health Storylines self-care app was designed to support the daily health related experiences of older adults specifically within the LGBT community, including those living with HIV and other chronic conditions. The SAGE organization, founded in 1978 and headquartered in New York, was set up to identify and meet the diverse needs of LGBT older adults. Targeted program support services and consumer resources address the unique day to day experiences of LGBT older adults and their caregivers.
The launch of the SAGE Health Storylines app comes at a time when the population of older adults as well as those within the LGBT community continues to rise. As of 2015, 50 percent of people with HIV in the U.S. are age 50 or older.
SAGE Health Storylines is a self-care app, specifically designed with a range of unique features to help individuals get into the habit of staying on top of their health. From setting up medication reminders to monitoring daily symptoms and moods, individuals can build a personal health story which can be tracked over time. In addition, the My Medical Information tool allows individuals to have important current and historical health information on hand just when they need it. The app also includes capabilities that allow users to share information with caregivers, loved ones or medical professionals safely and securely through the Circle of Support network.
“In partnership with Self Care Catalysts, we are very excited to launch a new app called SAGE Health Storylines, focusing on the needs of our community by helping HIV older adults to engage in their self-care and make better daily health decisions. It’s incredibly user-friendly, and can enhance conversations between app users, their health care providers and care managers.” states Diosdado Gica, Chief Program Officer at SAGE. “This technology-enabled programming is also a key initiative in SAGE’s Strategic Plan as we scale up our services via technology to not only be available to our NYC program participants but also to our affiliates, and potentially nationally by all LGBT-identified older adults with HIV who will be able to download the app.”
Founder & CEO of Self Care Catalysts, Grace Castillo-Soyao says, “We are proud to partner with SAGE to support resources for older adults within the LGBT community. Our belief is that when patients are informed, respected, and engaged, they make better choices, resulting in better health outcomes. Our Health Storylines™ platform also collects anonymized real-world evidence to support research in the HIV and LGBT community.”
