Everyday Life with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): Accessibility, Mobilities and Belonging

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common health condition involving symptoms of diarrhoea, constipation, pain, wind and an urgency to use the toilet (The IBS Network, 2020). It affects up to one-third of the UK population and is one of the most commonly reported conditions seen in general practice (Guts UK, 2020). Despite the fact that IBS often has symptoms that have a profound impact on the everyday lives of those who experience it, it is often underestimated and overlooked in both public life and research agendas. Little research has advanced understandings of the social implications of living with an incredibly common, but hidden condition. For example, it has explored what it means to experience symptoms that require urgent access to a toilet in public life. My research has increased knowledge of living with IBS, how its navigated in everyday practice, and what social and political issues a focus are brought to the fore through the lens of IBS. Specifically, the research offered a contribution by demonstrating the impact that IBS can have on the places people can or cannot go, the routines and reorganisations of their working day, and the social interactions and things that come to matter when living with a common, but often dismissed, health condition. The findings include issues of toilet accessibility whether that be a visit to a friends house or a trip to the toilet on a train journey, the role of 'Can't-Wait Cards' and 'Radar Keys' that can prioritise access to toilets in public life, together with the reassurances gained from having tissues and spare change kept in a person's back pocket and within the zip of a handbag. The research also highlighted the role of daily routines - from the pressures of getting up in the morning and getting to work on time, to the time allowed in the toilet at work and the comfort and privacy afforded in using such a space. My work has shown that these matters are not only important for those living with IBS, but are relatable features for everyone, and are thus important for an inclusive society as a whole. This fellowship enables me to communicate these social messages to multiple publics, including academic, the general public and policy audiences.The core activities of this fellowship are directed towards disseminating key findings, bringing to attention the important accounts of living with a common condition that often falls under the public and academic radar. Communicatingsuchfindingswillbeachievedthroughthecarefulinterplayoftellingpersonalaccounts of lived experiences whilst also highlighting the social and political implications of these narratives in broader public life - from being given time at work to go to the toilet, to being granted disabled toilet access in spite of IBS being an 'invisible' health condition. These findings will come to life in the form of written pieces for academic audiences including journal articles, blog posts and presenting at UK and international conferences. This fellowship will also include the production of a short video detailing everyday accounts of living with IBS. This will be showcased at a stakeholder engagement workshop, aimed at those living with IBS and those who also provide support including charities, local councils, occupational health groups and healthcare professionals. Finally, the latter period of this fellowship will involve developing a new research agenda andpilot research that covers life (and work) on the move and the implications of public toilet access. This builds not only on my research to date, but the growing social pertinence of toilet access and working life coming to the fore in political and social agendas. This fellowship will be hosted in the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield. The work of this fellowship compliments the sociological research agendas in the department and across the university that include health, inequalities and everyday life.