Stronger Together

A toolkit and information resource by patients for patients to help those living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

This helpful resource is brought to you by the Patient Advisory Council of ImproveCareNow.

Get the information you need.

Get the information you need.

Thanks for taking the questionnaire!

Find your personalized resources below.

Restart Quiz
PAC-ICN

Let's get you started!

By answering these simple questions about your experience with IBD, you’ll get what you need when you need it.

Are you 16 or older?

Your personal resources here.

Nutrition and IBD Toolkit

Nutrition tips and ideas + working with an expert as part of treatment and management.

Travel Toolkit

Stories and helpful techniques for travelers with Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis.

Disordered Eating Toolkit

Get expert advice about disordered eating behavior in IBD patients and ways to help.

College and IBD Toolkit

Helpful resources to make the process of transitioning to college with IBD less stressful.

Body Image Toolkit

Understanding body image issues from young people living with IBD.

Accommodations Toolkit

Available accommodations for IBD patients to make life easier and less stressful.

Crohn’s and Colitis Storybook

Helpful perspectives, self-care, and education from others living with IBD.

Transfer Toolkit

A helpful guide for young people with IBD transferring to manage their own care.

Ostomy Toolkit

Tips, tricks, and information from others experiencing life with an ostomy.

More resources for you

Information about the novel coronavirus (COVID -19) for IBD patients and families (LOOP) ICN Research Explained: Population Management: A Tool to Improve Timely Care in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (LOOP) Patient Perspectives on Telehealth and In-Person Care in the Time of COVID-19 (LOOP) Chronic Illness Can't be Solved like an Equation (LOOP) GI Psychology with Dr. Jennie David (podcast) Queer, Sick, and Proud (podcast) What I wish I knew about my J-pouch/ostomy takedown surgery (LOOP) Ulcerative colitis and my relationship with food (LOOP) Mental health is just as important as physical health (LOOP) Personal experience with nutritional interventions (LOOP) Self Advocacy and Transition (podcast) IBD and Identity (podcast) What I would have told my newly diagnosed self (LOOP) Why it’s important to talk about IBD (LOOP) A letter to my younger self (LOOP) From One Ostomate to Another, I promise it Does get Better (LOOP) Resilience with IBD (podcast) Impact of IBD on Body Image and Relationships with Food Part 2 (podcast) Impact of IBD on Body Image and Relationships with Food (podcast) 4 Things I learned as a High School Student with Crohn’s (LOOP) Infusions, Injections, School, and Life (podcast) Back to School with IBD (podcast) Transitioning (podcast) School with IBD (podcast)

Supporting Each Other

Living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease is hard enough. Doing it alone is even harder. The Patient Advisory Council in partnership with ImproveCareNow has created this resource for young people to be educated and empowered. By sharing ideas, tips, and resources, we become a force of knowledge against IBD. As a voice for IBD patients, PAC members contribute to research studies to improve health care innovations and develop better treatments for all of us.


Let’s rely on each other because we’re stronger together.

Being connected to a group of people that have had similar experiences to me, the PAC has really helped me find my voice and define my message.

—Natalie Beck

Connecting with patients and especially joining the PAC has allowed me to see that a diagnosis doesn’t take everything away.

—Shira Futornick

Joining the PAC and the larger ICN community has been the most significant and meaningful patient advocacy experience I have ever had.

—Maha Parakala

Being part of the PAC helps me remember that I'm not alone in this journey.

—Rhea Thakur

In the PAC, I'm actually able to use all these difficult challenges I've gone through to help other people. And I'm not just helping them, I'm helping myself.

—Becky Woolf

Featured Posts

“If you just sit and give folks a list of facts, they can debate those facts or try to refute them. They can't debate your story. Because it's your story." - Chris Keck on the imPACt Podcast 

Join me (Vanessa), Becky and Fionna for our conversation with Chris Keck from ImproveCareNow. We discuss storytelling - particularly personal narratives - and why stories matter.

Episode 29 of the imPACt podcast - Why Storytelling Matters

Sep 16, 2022

We are excited to be hosting our Fall 2022 Community Conference in Dallas, TX later this month. This will be our first in-person event since moving to a Live Online format in Spring 2020 in response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. September 21-23 we look forward to engaging with healthcare providers, patients and parents from across ImproveCareNow to all teach and all learn about recent results in our pediatric IBD research and improvement efforts. Download our draft agenda to preview the full conference schedule ⬇⬇

Fall 2022 ImproveCareNow Community Conference - Re-Emerging Stronger Than Ever

Sep 08, 2022

IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) are different disorders that intersect sometimes. Join Shira and I (Maddie) as we share our experiences and talk with Carlo Di Lorenzo, MD about IBS, IBD, and the complex and fascinating interactions between the brain and the gut.

Episode 28 of the imPACt podcast - IBS...

Sep 02, 2022

Welcome to the second episode in a 3-podcast series we're doing in collaboration with the ICN SWAP group (SWAP stands for Social Workers & Psychologists). In this episode, you'll hear me (Ryleigh) and my fellow PAC member Avery talking with Lauren Potthoff, PhD - an IBD psychologist at Lurie Children's in Chicago - about mental health during IBD flares.

Episode 27 of the imPACt podcast - Mental...

Aug 24, 2022

Join me (Autumn), Henry & Samantha for a conversation about medical trauma in IBD with ICN SWAP (Social Workers & Psychologists) group members Dr. Jennie David (licensed clinical pediatric IBD psychologist) and Dr. Alexandra Fuss. We are honored to have them join us to discuss this important topic.

Episode 26 of the imPACt podcast - IBD...

Aug 05, 2022

View all blog posts

Join the PAC

Together, we can make a difference. Join the Patient Advisory Council today and be the voice for others with IBD.