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April 11, 2007
Compassionate Technology
A spot on the NBC Nightly News last Friday talked about caringbridge.org, a website where the families of people who are ill can post about their progress, and friends can post their encouraging words. It basically creates a free website for the family. A woman whose 3-year-old daughter had leukemia noted that while her daughter was undergoing intensive chemotherapy, it was difficult to keep all their friends and family current on the news. The website allowed them to post progress once each day for them all to see, and allowed friends to post their prayers and words of encouragement back to them. A great idea.
When my mother was so ill in 2000, e-mail to my friends was my lifeline. But I do remember that after spending a day with my mom in intensive care, it was difficult to write multiple people and respond to them individually. Caringbridge seems to be a great solution. A side benefit is that the communication is not only between the person and respondents a pair at a time, but that a virtual community is formed, linking supporters who may have never met in person with each other.
I hope I don't have to use this new compassionate technology any time soon, but when I need it, I'll be glad that it's there.
Posted by hgroteva at April 11, 2007 5:09 AM | Technology