Building Awareness of Sepsis and Post-Sepsis Syndrome Through a Patient-Led Podcast
The newly launched Action on Sepsis Podcast focuses on telling the whole journey of sepsis from the perspective of the patient, along with input from healthcare workers, researchers, and other individuals advocating for improved sepsis care nationally and globally. It was developed by the Patient Advisory Council of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Action on Sepsis Research Excellence Cluster to improve awareness of sepsis among the public and healthcare workers, drawing on patients’ lived experiences to maximize impact and education through story-telling.
Each series in our podcast focus on the story of different sepsis survivor:
In Series 1, you meet your host, Kristine Russell, sepsis survivor, and parent of a neonatal sepsis survivor. In this series, she discusses the long-term impacts of neonatal and maternal sepsis with clinicians and researchers at UBC and British Columbia Children's Hospital in Vancouver, Canada.
Series 2 focuses on Kristin MacDonald, sepsis survivor turned sepsis advocate. In this series, our host discusses the experiences of adult sepsis patients in the ICU with an intensivist from Vancouver, Canada, and delves into the possible role of epigenetics in post-sepsis syndrome with an MD-PhD student at UBC.
Series 3 focuses on Shannon McKenney, a Juno-nominated singer, and survivor of recurrent sepsis. In this series our host explores two different approaches to improving the identification and management of sepsis:
1) developing new diagnostics using machine learning and changes in gene expression during sepsis, and
2) a BC-wide network focused on improving the quality of sepsis. We also discuss how patients and sepsis survivors can use their lived experiences to support research on sepsis with the BC SUPPORT Unit.
Since sepsis is preventable and treatable if recognized early, increased awareness of sepsis has the potential to significantly reduce death and disability. Yet, public awareness of sepsis and post-sepsis is generally low, and health professionals outside of critical and intensive care medicine typically have limited experience identifying and managing care for patients with sepsis. The Action on Sepsis Podcast provides an accessible platform for in-depth conversations that can be downloaded and listened to at the listener’s convenience, supporting learning by health workers, researchers, and the general public.
Visit the Action on Sepsis website to listen to the podcast. You can also listen to the podcast on your favorite podcast streaming platform: