I appreciated coming in as a community member and feeling like I wasn’t just here because on a piece of paper somewhere [the division of health care communication] said you involved the community. I actually felt what I had to say became incorporated in the actual workshop itself.
– Community Educator
To give back our life experiences for some reason for me gave very positive feelings about the disease, where normally you wouldn’t get those feelings. Usually it’s mostly negative.
– Community Educator
If I can play a small part in getting people to better understand the disease… if I can get through to a few people that get early diagnosis, give somebody a chance down the road for earlier diagnosis or proper treatment then I’ve done my job. – Community Educator
I thought the experience was great and I hope that I can have some further involvement in something like this cause I think it was very worthwhile and I thought it went very well and the students got something worthwhile from it.
– Community Educator
It was an enjoyable process for me and I really appreciated that the group was open to letting us think outside the box for the activities that we came up with because I specifically have an interest in the use of arts within the health care system…so I enjoyed just the process of thinking about what kind of activity [we could use] that would be experimental, that would get across some of the things that I feel living with a chronic illness.
– Community Educator
I almost urgently had a need for [the students] to see that I’m a living breathing human being just like them and that while I have this big scary sounding, and in some ways still scary illness that I have to live with, I function, I have emotions, I have the same needs and those needs include a respect and a dignity that we sometimes sadly forget…
– Community Educator
[I]f we can get through to a couple of students and they remember us when they run into somebody with the disease, hopefully they’ll get a better treatment and for me that gives me a high.
– Community Educator
It’s nice to convey your life experience…I think it’s a bit cathartic in a way, looking at where you’re at now as a community member and in your disease and being able to go through those steps and sort of reflect on it. It’s nice to be able to share and hopefully be able to help down the road.
– Community Educator