If podcasts aren’t part of your disease management, it might be worth adding to your overall treatment strategy. Listening to the right podcast can be quite powerful, reminding you that you’re not alone and part of a community — as you hear others talk intimately about the same challenges and issues you face. A podcast can also serve as an instant education or a quick pick-me-up, motivating you to learn more or try something new to better your health.
To get you started, we identified the 10 most listened to (and loved) podcasts produced by the Global Living Healthy Foundation (GHLF), our nonprofit organization that provides support, education, research, and advocacy for people living with chronic illness. From managing your condition and a career to understanding biosimilars to making the most of telehealth, our patient community engaged with a wide variety of topics to help them better navigate the pandemic and beyond.
Now it’s your turn to tune in. Check out these popular GHLF podcast episodes.
Podcast: The Psoriatic Arthritis Club
What it’s about: A podcast created so you don’t have to manage psoriatic arthritis alone
Episode: Lauren’s Story: A Personal Trainer Who Doesn’t Want to Push Through the Pain
Whether you’ve been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or psoriatic arthritis (PsA), living with a chronic condition can impact all aspects of your life, including your work.
Imagine exercising for a living, then being diagnosed with a condition that makes picking up weights almost too painful to bear. When Lauren learned she had PsA, she had a lot of concerns about what it would mean for her professionally (as a trainer) and personally (as a mom of young children).
“As a personal trainer, I can’t just tell people to work out,” Lauren says. “I have to live the lifestyle that I preach. However, if I am flaring, it is hard, and I have to really listen to my body and know what I can handle.”
Listen to more episodes from The Psoriatic Arthritis Club.
Podcast: Patient PrepRheum
What it’s about: A podcast that explores important and often-misunderstood arthritis topics
Episode: The Next Step with Biosimilars
Do you know what biosmilars are? If not — or if you’re only vaguely familiar — you’re in good company. Biosimilars are a relatively new option to treat arthritis and other inflammatory conditions — and your access to them may be limited depending on where you live and what insurance you have.
Many patients continue to have questions about biosimilars, which are highly similar to the original biologic drugs they were designed to mimic.
These are medicines that are used to slow or stop the progression of autoimmune arthritis and reduce disease activity when conventional tablet-form medications aren’t working well enough for you. One of the main differences: price. Biosimilars can be cheaper than biologics.
From our colleagues in Australia, this premiere episode addresses both biologic medicines and biosimilars. You’ll hear from Ann Laherty-Hunt, a patient who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2012. She shares her treatment journey of trying various DMARD therapies before getting onto biosimilars, which she says have changed her life.
Rheumatologist David Liew, MD, also discusses the difference between biologics and biosimilars and the safety and efficacy standards that biosimilars must meet before becoming an approved medicine.
Listen to more episodes from Patient PrepRheum.
Podcast: Breaking Down Biosimilars
What it’s about: A podcast that explores this compelling treatment option
Episode: Biosimilars 101
There’s definitely a big gap in patient education when it comes to biosimilars, which is why this podcast also addresses the ins and outs of this newer medication.
In our first episode, co-hosts Zoe Rothblatt and Conner Mertens provide an overview of biosimilars – what they are, how they can help with certain medical conditions, and the main differences between biosimilars, biologics, and generic medications.
Listen to more episodes from Breaking Down Biosimilars.
Podcast: Talking Head Pain
What it’s about: A podcast that confronts head pain, head on
Episode: Migraine Millennial Culture
Danielle Newport Fancher, now 33, recalls her first migraine. “I was 16, and I was driving home from school and I remember leaving the parking lot and seeing a little spot in one of my eyes, which I now know is aura, but by the time I got to a main intersection, the aura had taken over my full field of vision, and I was sitting in the intersection and I couldn’t see the road ahead of me.”
Fast forward nearly 20 years later, Danielle is now a migraine advocate and author of 10: A Memoir of Migraine Survival. In this podcast, she discusses the pressures of life with migraine in the age of social media, as well as the difficulties of managing a career while living with this debilitating condition. Danielle makes the call for transparent, honest conversations with others and explains the value of forging connections within the migraine community.
Listen to more episodes from Talking Head Pain.
Podcast: The Health Advocates
What it’s about: A podcast that breaks down major health news of the week to help you make sense of it all
Episode: Omicron: Are We Going Backward?
The steep and sudden rise in COVID-19 cases due to Omicron is particularly worrying for people who are immunocompromised and may still be vulnerable to COVID-19 despite being vaccinated. And many of these patients are asking: Are we going backward? After all, pandemics historically end after two to three years.
This episode discusses how will we know when the pandemic is over. “There’s never going to be a bright line that we cross but there’ll be a moment when hospitalizations are down, when we have the therapeutics to help us if we do get sick, similar with the flu and hopefully the strains will become less and less virulent,” says Steven Newmark, Director of Policy at the Global Healthy Living Foundation.
Listen to more episodes from The Health Advocates.
Podcast: Dungeons and Diagnoses
What it’s about: A podcast where fantasy and reality combine for patients with chronic health conditions
Episode: The Party Rescue
Living with a chronic illness can feel isolating — but not for these gamers who founded Dungeons and Diagnoses, a podcast twist on the Dungeons and Dragons© universe.
During the show, participants play the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons© while casually discussing aspects of their personal lives and living with medical conditions like arthritis and psoriasis.
In this popular episode, there is a quest to find Drydeos the Kind, the large, powerful, and friendly dragon who has pledged to defend the city of WestHold but has disappeared for unknown reasons. As part of the adventure, a simple night camping becomes fraught with danger.
“To learn how one acts when their belongings, or home, or honor is threatened lets us learn more about their principles and morals,” explains host and GHLF staffer James Dybisz.
Listen to more episodes from Dungeons and Diagnoses.
Podcast: MatterofVax
What it’s about: A podcast that explores the issues surrounding patients, caregivers, and community on the topic of vaccination, COVID-19 risks, and staying safe
Episode: How Do Communities Manage Risk of Pandemic?
Managing health risks has taken on a whole new meaning in the era of COVID-19 — and people have been told to run, don’t walk to get a vaccine. “But for some people living with chronic conditions dependent on medication that might need to see some restart around vaccinations — and particularly for those who are immunocompromised — it’s been a pretty scary world,” explains host Steph O’Connell from GHLF Australia.
In this episode, we talk to Professor Greg Dore, an Infectious Diseases Physician, at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia, about why we all need to understand and continue to manage the risks of COVID-19.
Listen to more episodes from MatterofVax.
Podcast: HealthCare Matters
What it’s about: A podcast that pulls back the curtain to help you make sense of complex healthcare economics and policy issues
Episode: Trusting the Vaccine
If you’re immunocompromised, it’s important to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and to be surrounded by people who are vaccinated as well. This can lead to difficult conversations with loved ones who are hesitant or unwilling to get the vaccine.
In this episode, we explore the history of vaccines, how the COVID-19 vaccines work, and what other vaccines are being developed. “We’re developing vaccines not only for infectious diseases, but we’re developing vaccines for oncology cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, HIV, AIDS. So if we are going to be so hesitant about vaccines, we’re not going to be able to defeat some of these long-term chronic illnesses that affect people,” says Robert Popovian, PharmD, Chief Science Policy Officer at the Global Healthy Living Foundation.
Listen to more episodes from HealthCare Matters.
Podcast: Gut Culture
What it’s about: A podcast that gut checks assumptions about IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) through real conversations with two health care leaders
Episode: Got IBD? I Got You Babe
Unfortunately, for many people, dealing with health disparities is a major part of living with chronic illness — and this podcast tackles a common disparity discussed in the inflammatory bowel disease community.
“Statistically, we know that if you are a Black patient coming into the emergency room going to your doctor’s offices, it’s a 91 percent chance that you won’t even get an IBD workup,” says Melodie Narain-Blackwell, President and Founder of The Color of Crohn’s and Chronic Illness. “There needs to be a space like this, where our community members can come and hear the truths.”
In this episode, Melodie and Steven Newmark, Director of Policy at Global Healthy Living Foundation, discuss the challenges of living with IBD, and how those challenges are magnified for patients of color. Melodie and Steven share personal stories and speak directly to patients as they bring together years of knowledge of two incredible patient organizations.
Learn more about Gut Culture.
Podcast: Patiently Connecting
What it’s about: A podcast designed to help teach telehealth to all
Episode: Danielle Shares her Experience Switching to Telehealth
Chronic illnesses such as inflammatory arthritis require regular visits — either in person or virtual — with your rheumatologist and other providers. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made doctors across the country adopt telehealth, also called telemedicine, to provide care from a distance.
In this podcast, host GHLF Operations Administrator Amy Finklestein interviews her colleague and friend, Danielle Ali, Technology System Analyst at GHLF, to find out the challenges of her personal experience finding a new doctor in a digital world. Danielle also shares her professional insight about telehealth, patient portals, and cyber security.
Listen to more episodes from Patiently Connecting.
