Largest online epilepsy community tops 100,000 Facebook members

An online patient community, Team Epilepsy, was created only a year ago. By Dec.14, 2011, it had 45,000 Facebook fans. On Jan. 26, it had 100,000.

“Such an overwhelming response demonstrates the importance of social media in the lives of those with chronic health conditions,” says Liz Moench, founder and CEO of the specialty patient recruitment-retention firm, MediciGlobal, in a PRNewswire press release.

MediciGlobal launched Team Epilepsy in January 2011 to help “raise awareness about the importance of clinical research in developing new medicines, exchange information, and raise awareness about specific clinical trials available.”

The global community has members in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the U.K., the U.S and more.

"Social media is emerging as an important strategy for raising awareness of clinical trials. Patient communities are well-defined on Facebook, and people welcome the opportunity to share their experiences with epilepsy within our Team Epilepsy community," says Nick Halkitis, vice president of online marketing and digital strategies at MediciGlobal. "We are able to reach out to and engage with specific patient groups in a unique, more timely and cost-effective way."