The Model | Heroic Florida

Starting with type 1 diabetes and expanding through school nursing and community partnerships, Heroic is building the self-sustaining preventive health infrastructure for the 21st century.

Heroic Diabetes is rolling out a bold national campaign to deliver comprehensive, engaging health and life-skills education to 50 million K-12 students and their families—beginning with children living with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

The centerpiece of the initiative is the award-winning Heroic Learning Platform: a HIPAA- and COPPA-compliant 3D gamified ecosystem already used by more than 10 million students over the past decade. Proven to dramatically improve academic outcomes, attendance, and standardized test scores in the public school system, the platform is now the nation’s first scalable hybrid Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) solution and a whole-child preventive health program.

Closing Critical Gaps in Type 1 Diabetes Care

More than 90% of the 300,000 U.S. children with T1D never receive comprehensive DSMES, driving higher HbA1c, preventable hospitalizations, secondary complications, lost productivity, and decreased life span—resulting in a lifetime financial burden averaging ~$508,000 more per person than someone without diabetes (Sussman, Haller et al., 2020). To deliver the health training children with T1D deserve, Heroic Diabetes combines:

Gamified DSMES via an immersive superhero-themed game featuring Mighty Chondrian and 20 AI-powered mentors
On-demand parent modules and monthly 15-minute educator check-ins
Remote CGM monitoring with positive, hope-focused feedback
Year-round virtual diabetes camp and incentives for in-person camp attendance
Heroic Chromebook devices for those participants who are funded through healthcare
Nationwide “Heroic Nurse” certification program. School nurses managing ratios as high as 1:2,500 receive a dashboard that automates first-line screenings and interventions, turning schools into the nation’s primary preventive health centers—without adding classroom, teacher time or district cost.

Scaling to All Children - led by T1D families - Key players include:

The Heroic Learning Platform: The world’s leading kid-driven, game-based, AI- and tokenized life-skills learning platform for K-12 students and their families—no teacher or classroom time required. It scales messaging while preserving efficacy.
American Diabetes Association: We are accredited by the ADA as a diabetes educator and are partnering with all 40+ ADA summer camps to extend them into virtual camps 365 days a year.
Research Partner: We will continuously test and research ways to improve education and health outcomes. The university’s world-class physicians and researchers will be fully integrated into every aspect of the program from metabolic health to mental wellness.
School Nurses: We are partnering with the National Association of School Nurses and its 60,000 members nationwide to launch the “Heroic Nurse” certification (www.heroicnurse.com). This uses the Heroic Learning platform to teach and manage the health of thousands of students proactively and effectively.
YMCA’s: We will partner with all 2,500 YMCAs across the country to offer quarterly “Heroic Day Camps” for parents and kids with chronic conditions, managed by the Heroic Health team.
Heroic Geek Squad: By using existing devices and providing the Heroic Chromebook (see Appendix A) to those families that are funded, we not only provide the learning and support for a families health and wellness needs, but we address the issue of “is technology good” by helping families use technology for good. This group will also assist in increasing access to diabetes tech, including Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) systems and Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM’s),
4-H program: We will create a virtual 4-H program in the game where the kids are learning how to grow things and getting connected to the actual 4-H camps around the state. In the Heroic backpack, we’ll send the Game’n Grow at home grow kit so they can practice growing food in their home.

Projected Impact and Return on Investment

At $50 per child per month for high-need populations, the initiative targets a 25–50% reduction in lifetime chronic disease costs—preventing hospitalizations and secondary complications—delivering $127,000–$254,000 saved per T1D patient and an ROI between 105:1 to 211:1. Applied nationally, the model is projected to reduce U.S. healthcare spending by up to 30% within five years while redirecting a portion of savings to double cure-research funding.

The Revenue Model: Sustainable, Value-Based Scaling

We train K-12 students—starting with the chronically ill and underserved—to become the healthiest, most resilient generation yet. Children learn to connect with and positively influence the adults around them, such as their parents and grandparents, giving even underserved populations access to meaningful health education through a powerful incentive structure fueled by the child’s love for game-based learning.

Revenue is generated through established and emerging billing pathways for chronic disease education, as well as mental health screening and intervention (see Appendix B). Heroic Learning aims to transition the delivery of these services to a simplified value-based care bundle that undercuts traditional costs by 70–90% while delivering superior outcomes. The model complements—not replaces—physicians and clinical teams. The Heroic platform will provide initial education and assist the school nurse in referring kids to outpatient services.

Redirecting Savings to Research

As healthcare savings are realized through reduced hospitalizations, secondary complications, and lifetime costs, a portion of the generated value will be systematically redirected to accelerate cure-focused research. The Heroic Diabetes Initiative commits to funding at least $1 million annually of new funding to the “research partner” beginning in 2026, ensuring that prevention today directly fuels tomorrow’s cures.

Priming the Pump and Florida Study and Showcase

Initial funding includes a $2 million research partner aligned grant and $6 million from the federal Rural Health Transformation initiative. An additional $1 million tokenized equity raise will launch Heroic Florida (majority kid-owned via earned Heroic Tokens).

Depending on when the funds come in will determine when the two studies are launched. They will preferably be launched on parallel tracks:

TRACK 1: A “research partner” Quality Improvement study begins Q1 2026 and includes a focused cohort of 10–20 patients from the “research partners” clinic to demonstrate clinical improvements.

TRACK 2: The Florida Showcase works with 20,000 K-12 students, 50 schools, 20 school nurses, and 4,000 children with chronic conditions (T1D, asthma, obesity, etc.). “Research partner” will independently validate the following outcomes:

General Population Outcomes (20,000 K-12 students)

Increased daily school attendance and reduction in chronic absenteeism
Higher proficiency on state math, reading, and science assessments
Closing of the academic achievement gap, especially in Title I schools
Significant reduction in behavioral referrals and disciplinary incidents
Improved self-reported healthy habits (nutrition, sleep, physical activity)
Higher Children’s Hope Scale scores and lower depression/anxiety symptoms
Increased family engagement in health services
Greater sense of community, life-skills mastery, and personal ownership

Type 1 Diabetes & Chronic-Condition Cohort Outcomes (4,000 students + research partners T1D clinic cohort)

80% completion of all 8 ADA-required DSMES topics (vs. current <10% national baseline)
Clinically meaningful increase in Time-in-Range and reduction in HbA1c
Fewer severe hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia events
Higher Children’s Hope Scale scores and improved diabetes-specific quality of life
Lower depression and diabetes-distress screening scores
Increased attendance at diabetes camps (virtual + in-person)
Higher parent confidence and module completion rates
Reduction in diabetes-related school absences and acute care utilization