World IBD Day Webinar: The IBD Village - Practical Ways Loved Ones and Communities Can Help
19 May 2026
19:00 – 20:00
Online - Zoom Webinar
World IBD Day Webinar 2026
“The IBD Village: Practical Ways Loved Ones and Communities Can Help”
Featuring Dr Susan Brannick, Clinical Director with Aware
World IBD Day is a moment each year when our community comes together to raise visibility, challenge stigma, and honour the strength of everyone living with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. This year, CCI’s theme “It Takes a Village to Live With IBD” recognises a simple truth: nobody faces IBD alone. The emotional, practical, and social challenges of these conditions reach far beyond the individual, touching families, workplaces, schools, universities, healthcare teams, and wider communities.
To explore this crucial connection between mental health, support networks, and chronic illness, we are honoured to welcome Dr Susan Brannick, Clinical Director with Aware, as the primary speaker for our World IBD Day 2026 webinar.
Dr Brannick brings extensive expertise in mental health, emotional wellbeing, and the lived realities of navigating long?term conditions. Her session will delve into how community support, our “village”, plays a vital role in helping people with IBD cope, adapt, and thrive. From managing the psychological impact of ongoing symptoms to dealing with isolation, uncertainty, stigma, and lifestyle limitations, Dr Brannick will highlight practical ways that supporters, loved ones, colleagues, and organisations can make a meaningful difference.
This webinar will offer:
- Insights on mental health and chronic illness
- Strategies for building stronger support networks
- Guidance for families, friends, workplaces, and caregivers
- Tools to help IBD warriors feel seen, supported, and understood
- A deeper understanding of why community matters now more than ever
This year, we’re calling on the entire village - individuals with IBD, partners, parents, siblings, friends, teachers, employers, healthcare providers, student groups, sports clubs, and businesses - to join us. World IBD Day is not only about raising awareness; it’s about standing together to create real, tangible support for those living with IBD in Ireland.
Throughout May, CCI will also run a wide programme of free online and in?person events, awareness activities, and community challenges, giving everyone an opportunity to take part in their own way.
Don’t miss this important conversation!
Stay tuned to our website and follow our social channels for full event details, registration links, and updates throughout the month.
Because living with IBD takes a village, and together, our village is stronger.