Patient Advocate Melodie Blackwell Shares Her Perspective on People of Color with IBD
Melodie Blackwell is the founder of COCCI (Color of Crohn’s And Chronic Illness), an organization she founded after her own harrowing health journey, which inspired her to take action and raise awareness for disparities in healthcare. Melodie shares statistics on people of color who live with chronic illness, and how the overlooked populations of patients inspired her to create the Equity in IBD Patient Symposium.
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Featured Guests in this Episode
Melodie Blackwell
Founder of Color of Crohn’s and Chronic Illness (COCCI)
Melodie Blackwell, is a Crohn’s patient and founder of an organization called the Color of Crohn’s and Chronic Illness. Her organization is on a mission is to improve the quality of life for patients who are affected by IBD, Digestive Disorders and associated Chronic Illnesses through Community, Research, Education, and Advocacy. She created the #EquityInIBD Hybrid Patient Symposium focused on the Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Patient community, the first patient symposium of its kind. For more information, visit cocci.org.
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