Posted by ImproveCareNow™ on March 23, 2022
Christian Lawson is a former co-chair of the Patient Advisory Council (PAC) and a current improver and member of the ICN Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Christian was nominated by fellow improver, Lisa Pitch, and was awarded the James A. Stockman Lectureship through The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Foundation. On October 10, 2021, Christian spoke during the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition, sharing his experiences as a young Black patient navigating the chronic illness health care system.
Being selected as a patient for the 2021 Stockman Lectureship was the dream of a lifetime. I never expected my story would be able to help anyone else, especially other minorities just like me. Raising my voice for them is the most important thing I can ever do. Our journey as minority patients is hard. Sometimes we run into financial strains, suffer from a lack of proper healthcare education, face distrust with healthcare professionals and so much more. Having this opportunity to share with the American Board of Pediatrics allowed me to be able to not only share my struggles through my journey, it allowed me to empower care providers to know that it is together that we help each other when it comes to racial inequalities in healthcare. We are better together and stronger together.
Thank you to Christian for sharing his story. We believe #StoriesMatter and they can help us do #BetterTogether 💚💙
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Get #InTheLOOP with more stories by Christian on the ICN blog >>
Put in your time and energy on behalf of someone else. No effort is too small, because everything we do in ImproveCareNow is magnified by the efforts of thousands of other improvers, and together we bring about a better quality of life for many. Here are some actions you can take, or invite others to take:
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Invite someone to stay #InTheLOOP with our stories on the blog - "Sharing stories and experiences is affirming and validating. Our stories reach others and they help, which is the most wonderful part of being involved with ImproveCareNow." - Quint
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Invite a patient (14+) to join the Patient Advisory Council - "Being part of the PAC helps me remember that I'm not alone in this journey." - Rhea
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Invite a parent or guardian of a child with IBD to join the Parent Working Group - "I believe I have helped other newly diagnosed families not feel as lost as I was. I believe I am making a difference in my community. And none of this would have happened if I hadn't joined the Parent Working Group." - Carrie
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Invite someone to download our free, co-produced IBD resources - "Physical resources provide patients with actions that we can take toward bettering our quality of life, as well as our current and future care." - Quint
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