Living with cancer can be isolating, and finding the right resource to connect with others in the same situation can be tough. But one app is aiming to make the process easier for patients with its new social media platform.
This week, Belong, a social media app designed for cancer patients, announced that it will be partnering up with Toronto-based advocacy group Colorectal Cancer Canada (CCC) to develop a new platform specifically for CCC members.
“This partnership enhances our vision to support patients and their loved ones while easing their concerns as they cope with a challenging disease,” Eliran Malki, cofounder and CEO of Belong, said in a statement. “We aspire to improve the quality of life of all cancer patients. This service is a community that offers simple and up-to-date information, and we believe that the connection and solutions will save people time and money and assist them in their treatment decisions.”
As part of the partnership, Belong will offer CCC patients a closed platform that will give members up-to-date news about the organization, events and activities, current updates, and direct links to the association. It will also let patients contact the association directly and get personalized information on colon cancer-related topics.
The standard Belong app is free for patients to download and offers multiple different services including access to oncologists, radiologist and researchers who will answer questions, personalized information and notifications, and a way to organized and manage documents. It also uses artificial intelligence to provide predictive and preventative tool.
Part of the platform’s goal is to help people with cancer connect with others in a similar situation. Patients can offer support, assistance, and tips to each other via the app, according to the webpage. The app lets users select a specific condition from over 20 different of options including breast cancer, leukemia, and pancreatic cancer.
The New York-based startup was founded in 2015 and claims it currently has users from 105 different countries.
This marks the second major partnership for the Belong app in the last six months. In November, Belong announced a partnership with the American Cancer Society, which provided members a direct discussion line to science and advocacy resources, according to a statement.
“Our partnership will improve the quality of life for people living with cancer, and increase patient engagement opening a modern, effective, and up-to-date communication channel that enables real-time interaction,” CCC’s President and CEO, Barry D. Stein, said in a statement. “Belong’s unique app and advanced technology provides all the resources cancer patients need in one place. This mobile platform allows patients to manage their care and treatment wherever they are, connecting them with unparalleled resources.”