Voices and Perspectives to Improve, Innovate and Inspire
ImproveCareNow (ICN) believes that when patients and parents/caregivers are true partners in the design and delivery of IBD care, we can achieve even better outcomes. One way our Learning Health Network fosters this partnership with our pediatric IBD families is through a Community Conference scholarship program. Scholarships cover the full costs for patients and parents/caregivers to attend our in-person meetings.
Medical conferences have traditionally been designed just for medical professionals. Shifting this paradigm – offering enriching, content-focused meetings that engage and meet the needs of a diverse audience – is both a challenge and an opportunity. In ICN we are committed to continuously improving our conferences to better include all members of our community. Patients and parents/caregivers not only attend as full participants in our conferences, many of our sessions are also co-created and presented by these vital partners.
Below are some reflections shared by patient & parent/caregiver attendees from our Fall 2024 Community Conference. If you would like to support this important work and bring more IBD family voices to our learning events, please make a donation to the Richard B. Colletti Family Fund.