ImproveCareNow brings together many different people in a diversity of roles across the spectrum of pediatric IBD care. Everyone contributes to our shared mission to transform the health, care and costs for all children and adolescents with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD) by building a sustainable collaborative chronic care network.

Today, we're highlighting the ICN Social Workers & Psychologists (SWAP) group, which brings together psychosocial professionals (including social workers and psychologists) across the network to ask & answer questions, learn from & support each other, share best practices & resources, and work together to continuously improve awareness of & access to psychosocial whole-person care for pediatric IBD patients and families.

The SWAP group has had a lot of momentum this past year, with SWAP members conducting and publishing new research, and taking on new collaborative projects with others in the ImproveCareNow community. In this post, we're highlighting some of the exciting work that ICN Social Workers & Psychologists are doing!

Recent SWAP Publications

SWAP collaboration with the Patient Advisory Council's imPACt Podcast

Current SWAP Projects

The SWAP group is currently collaborating with the Parent/Family Advisory Council (PFAC) and caregivers involved in A-LiNK (The Autoimmune Liver disease Network for Kids) on a Caregiver Coping Resource. More details on this resource to come! If you are a parent or caregiver of a young person with IBD, you can get involved (and connect with other IBD families) by joining the PFAC.

SWAP-portunities to Get Involved in Research!

Participating in research helps to build knowledge and when we learn together, we can change health care for the better. There are active research projects that the SWAP group are involved with and we are still seeking participants. As Jennie David has said, "To change the cultural norm in medicine is a daunting task, but there is a place to begin: publications." 

💚 An Exploration of How Health Care Professional Assess and Support Sleep and Fatigue in a Pediatric IBD Population - Pediatric IBD Patient Survey


Get #InTheLOOP with SWAP group stories on the ImproveCareNow blog >>
📌 Finding a Mental Health Provider For Your Child or Teen With IBD - a free, co-produced resource from the SWAP group & members of the ICN Community (updated July 2022)
⏰ Take Action! No effort is too small, because everything we do in ImproveCareNow is magnified by the efforts of thousands of other improvers! Here are some ways to find & give help:
💚 Young patients (14+) with IBD can join the Patient Advisory Council 
💙 Caregivers of young people with IBD can join the Parent/Family Advisory Council
💚 Eligible individuals can participate in Current Research Opportunities
💙 Anyone can support ImproveCareNow with a tax-deductible general donation or donation to the Richard B. Colletti Family Fund
💚 Anyone can sign up for blog updates and stay #InTheLOOP with our IBD stories
💙 Anyone can download, use & share our free, co-produced IBD resources
💚 Anyone can connect with our welcoming & supportive community and receive IBD resources, community stories, and ICN updates & opportunities by joining our CIRCLE
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