If you live with an illness for long enough, you become something of an expert in it – at the very least, in how it affects your body. Sometimes, though, doctors don’t take your expertise seriously. They’re the experts, after all, and they’re used to having the power in these interactions. This is why it's important to learn how to advocate for yourself or find someone to advocate for you.

In this episode of Pill Pop, hosts Silvi and Izzie speak with physiotherapist, PhD candidate, and health communication researcher, Louisa Walsh. They speak about her experience advocating for herself and others as a person with Cystic Fibrosis and a double lung transplant recipient. 

Content warning: this episode includes discussions of physical and mental illness, hospitals, medical trauma.

Further reading

• Using Social Media to Facilitate Consumer Engagement in Health Service Improvement, Louisa Walsh's PhD research, La Trobe University
•  Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge by Steven Epstein, published 1996, University of California Press

Get in touch

We want to hear from our listeners! Tweet us your own health advocacy stories at @PillPopCast, or send us an email at [email protected]. 

In this episode

Hosted, produced and edited by Silvi Vann-Wall and Izzie Austin. PhD Candidate, physiotherapist, and lecturer Louisa Walsh is our guest.

Recorded at Studio 757, Melbourne and Silvi and Izzie's respective home offices. This series is produced in partnership with the Wheeler Centre's Signal Boost programme. Mentorship and production support from Bec Fary.

Music: 'Dip Dop' by Barrie Gledden; 'Sad Marimba Planet' and 'More on That Later' by Lee Rosevere. Sound effects sourced from SoundSnap and Klankbeeld.

Transcript

A transcript of this episode will be available soon.