This is Part Three of a four-part review of the most amazing One Drop diabetes phone app and will focus on One Drop Premium Experts. Part One focused on Blood Sugar data analysis. Part Two focused on food recording.
The One Drop App is free to use and absolutely amazing on it’s own. But it really starts to shine when you join as a Premium member. With Premium you get a beautiful meter and unlimited test strips which will be in part four of the review. You also get access to two methods of education.
ON TRACK
The first is a 12-part series of lessons called On Track. These cover the basics of diabetes and are perfect for someone who is just starting out or who simply needs to be reminded of some of the simple parts of diabetes care.
They get delivered as messages within the app every few days. And the new message shows up right on my home page. They cover topics like setting goals, testing frequently, and being active. Each one comes with a challenge like logging all of your meals or logging physical activity.
It was nice to open up the app to check in and have a new lesson waiting for me. But even better than that, were the messages from my Expert right on my home page in the app. Experts are all Certified Diabetes Educators who are available to chat.
One of my hesitations in starting the lessons was having to talk to a real live person. I am a shy girl and having to carry on conversations with strangers can be intimidating.
But there was never any pressure. I would get a question from my Expert, Rachel, after I had time to read my lesson. I could answer whenever I found time. And she would follow up with another pertinent question about 12 hours later.
I didn’t feel pressured to answer questions. It was just like having a concerned friend in the app who actually cared about me and my diabetes story.
I really wish I had this when I was first diagnosed and didn’t know a single other person with diabetes. The knowledge that there is someone else out there with diabetes is amazing. And to have a person who checks in with me about my diabetes story could be life changing for so many who are still isolated.
ON CALL
The other method of education is the 24/7 access to a diabetes expert. You can contact your Expert at any time through the app. So if you’re confused about some recent highs you’ve been having in the afternoons, you send out a quick text to your Expert and within the next 12 hours you will get a message back.
And the best part is the Expert can access all your logged data so she can quickly analyze it and give you some tips or tricks to try out. You won’t have to explain all the details of the problem because they are hopefully already logged into the app.
NEVER ALONE
Although you should be checking in with your doctor every three months, it can be hard to wait for that time to get advice when you’re having a problem now. With the Premium Subscription you can get that advice and you don’t have to feel like you are wasting your doctors time with smaller fine tuning of your diabetes care.