You become an advocate because you care. Because you want to make things better for the next person. Because your hard-earned experience shouldn’t go to waste. And you want people to have a better experience than you did and less alone.
But advocacy - whether through peer support, sharing your story online online or policy work - can quietly take more from you than you realise.
In this episode, Luan speaks with Shona Edwards, Deputy Chair of Cancer Voices SA and a leader in disability and patient advocacy, about the emotional and energetic cost of showing up for others while still living with health challenges yourself.
Together they explore:
• What peer mentoring, online community support and patient advocacy look like
• How to recognise the roles you might already be playing
• Why so many advocates feel called to support their community
• The emotional labour that comes with being the “go-to” person
• Practical ways to protect your energy, privacy and boundaries
• Why self-care is a vital skill that helps make advocacy sustainable
This episode speaks to anyone who offers peer support or patient advocacy in a WhatsApp group, on Instagram, or through a formal advocacy or peer role. And if you work alongside lived experience advocates, it’s an important reminder of the respect and care they need too.
This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. In Part 2, we explore a concept from the disability space that might just help you rethink your relationship to time, energy and recovery.
Make sure you’re following or subscribed so you don’t miss it.
For the links to all the resources mentioned in this show, go to the episode blog page.
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CREDITS:
Host & Producer: Luan Lawrenson-Woods, Self-Health Advocate
Sound engineering: Paddy from Goosewing Sounds Ltd (UK)
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