Here’s what you need to know:
1. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Digestive Disorders Center offers “IBD Connect,” a volunteer program that pairs hospitalized IBD patients with volunteers who have also experienced IBD.
2. The volunteers provide patients with emotional and educational support, including free educational pamphlets about gastrointestinal diseases. Volunteers can also liaise information between patients, families and nurses.
3. Miguel Regueiro, MD, a professor of medicine and head of the university’s IBD clinical program, led a study of 580 “IBD Connect” patients. He found that more than one-third met with a volunteer at least twice after hospital admission and 82 percent said their outlook concerning IBD improved.
4. The researchers found that patients sometimes felt more comfortable sharing information with a peer, rather than a physician. Additionally, being part of a support network helped to destigmatize the disease for IBD patients.
5. Since 2012, 673 patients have participated in the “IBD Connect” program.
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