Did you miss us? We briefly interrupted our regular, every-other-Friday podcast release schedule. It was for a really good cause though - we released a special episode of imPACt to celebrate World IBD Day (May 19) and talk about the importance of Advocacy! Now we're back and hope you'll join us today for our chat about IBD & Identity.

World IBD Day is May 19. It happens every year and is a time for #TalkingAboutIBD. It's important to share our lived experiences with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis (also known as Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD), to raise awareness of these often invisible illnesses and to build momentum and advocacy for positive changes to IBD care and outcomes. Join us for a special episode of the imPACt podcast this #worldIBDday 💚💙

I'm Vanessa - one of the PAC communications team leads - I am currently a HS junior and on tennis team. I've had to learn how to talk to my teachers, coach, teammates and friends about Crohn's and tell them when I feel sick or have an infusion. Being open has helped me build trusting relationships with them. Managing IBD, school and sports is definitely a challenge, but having a strong support system and being able to communicate with them openly has made it a lot easier to succeed. I'll be talking more about it on the podcast today - join me!

At the Spring ICN Community Conference, PAC members led breakout sessions on the important topics of self-advocacy and pediatric-to-adult transition. In this episode of the imPACt podcast we continue the conversation about these topics with special guest, and PAC alumna, Sami Kennedy. 

I had the pleasure of presenting at the Spring 2021 Live Online Community Conference last week on the topic of “Recovering from Flares”. Myself and other PAC members discussed things like: what a flare looks like, how a patient can anticipate a flare and what steps they can take in communicating with their providers and family to avoid serious health repercussions. Our goal was to really emphasize proactivity and empower patients to take charge of their health. 

I'm really excited about this topic and have shared a bit more about it below, including how you can listen as we continue the conversation in Episode 3 of the imPACt podcast this Friday.

Hi, I’m Maha, one of the PAC members you’ll hear talking about IBD in the second episode of our imPACt podcast! 

Hey, it’s Robbie! I’m a member of the Patient Advisory Council (PAC) and your host for Episode 1 of the imPACt podcast today. The PAC and I are beyond excited to share our first full episode of the imPACt podcast with you! Sharing the perspectives of patients and caregivers is our goal, and imPACt truly brings a new, modern twist on allowing others to listen to perspectives of those within the ICN community.

Here #InTheLOOP we have been honored to share hundreds of stories from people across our community. We believe strongly in the power of #TalkingAboutIBD and of stories to highlight the real voices, experiences, joys, frustrations, triumphs and struggles of patients who live with IBD every single day. Today, we are very excited to be able to share a whole new way for you to engage with the patient voice - to really hear their stories - by tuning into a brand new podcast by the Patient Advisory Council (PAC) called imPACt! In this podcast PAC members will be talking openly about IBD with a goal of raising awareness and inclusivity, and connecting with listeners, each other and podcast guests.