The Crohn’s and Colitis Young Adults Network (CCYAN) is a nonprofit created and led by young adults with IBD. We aim to improve the care of young adults with IBD by driving research, systems change, and the creation of clinician- and patient-facing resources. You can learn more about our clinician and patient resources below.

Interested in working with our team, connecting with patient advisors, or collaborating in another way? Fill out our Collaboration Interest Form!

Resources for Clinicians

Our CCYAN team/community is comprised of young adults with IBD, many of whom also work in healthcare (e.g., medical students, physicians, social workers, dietitians, physician assistants, nurses, researchers, and more). In collaboration with multidisciplinary clinicians and researchers, CCYAN hosted a yearlong guided discussion series (our Roundtable on Young Adults with IBD) to focus on aspects of young adulthood and IBD where patients often need additional support. Following these roundtable discussions, we created the resources below to help clinicians and trainees learn how to better serve the unique needs of young adults with IBD!

Please feel free to share these resources with your clinic staff, incorporate them into continuing medical education initiatives, use them to prompt discussion within your department, etc.! Information on how to cite these materials is included in each PDF. 

Challenges and Recommendations in Caring for Young Adults with IBD

We’ve created resources focusing on eight aspects of young adulthood and IBD where challenges/gaps in care commonly occur. For each of the topics below, you can access our peer-reviewed publications, didactic videos featuring clinicians and IBD patients, and tables highlighting challenges and patient-centered recommendations for improving care.

Click below to view the corresponding resources for each topic:

Engaging YA IBD Patients in Research

As a community-led organization, we are strong believers in the power of patient-engaged research as a way of advancing health equity and ensuring outcomes are meaningful to patients. We know that it can be challenging for providers and researchers to find and/or connect with patients who are interested in joining advisory boards, research teams, or other opportunities for collaboration. 

To bridge this gap, we’ve created a working directory of young adult IBD patients with a wide range of experiences and expertise (past/current CCYAN Fellows), who are interested in getting involved in IBD-related projects! 

Click here to access our Crohn’s & Colitis Young Adults Network Directory.


Resources to Provide Your YA IBD Patients

Living with IBD can be an isolating experience and create many psychosocial challenges for young adults. CCYAN has created several patient-facing resources and opportunities, which we encourage you to share with your patients!

You can access more information about our resources for young adult IBD patients here!