Episodes

From a 10-bed lying-in hospital to Handel’s Messiah, the Rotunda Maternity Hospital has operated continuously for 281 years. A Nurses’ Week story. Summary Across the street from Danny’s Dublin hotel stood a large white institutional building with no signage. It turned out to be the Rotunda Hospital — the oldest continuously operating maternity hospital in the world, delivering babies in the same building since December 8th, 1757. Surgeon Bartholomew Mosse founded it after losing his wife and chi...

Participatory governance in healthcare means asking the right people the right questions. Three stories where listening as leadership changed everything. Summary This episode is about listening as leadership — the gap between where knowledge lives and where decisions get made, and what it costs when we pretend that gap doesn’t exist. Three stories from my career as a nurse manager, quality director, and VP — three moments where participatory governance in healthcare produced the same result: a ...

Health Hats walks & floats through ancient Maya caves in Belize with forearm crutches, teamwork, trust, and shared decision-making every step of the way. Watch this episode on YouTube. Audio is published, but not the same Podcast episode on YouTube Summary What does it take to go cave tubing in Belize when you use forearm crutches and have no electric wheelchair? For Danny van Leeuwen, it takes the 3 T’s: Time (a half-mile walk), Trust (in guides and companions), and Talk (real-time decisions a...

Former Nike exec Mark Hochgesang interviews Danny on Heavy Hitter Sports Podcast about MS & being an adaptive athlete. Just back from Belize! Training works. Summary My friend Mark Hochgesang, former Nike exec and host of Heavy Hitter Sports, recently interviewed me. While I usually wear my life on my sleeve on Health Hats, this conversation revealed something different—how I think about myself as an adaptive athlete. Phil Knight’s mantra: “If you have a body, you’re an athlete.” I never thoug...

Health Hats Danny celebrates 50 – years with his honey & pounds lost. With gratitude for privilege, & best health thru family, media, music, travel, & advocacy. Summary Think of 2025 as Danny’s Sofrito year—familiar and unexpected ingredients simmering together. The base: 50 years married, daily saxophone practice, steady MS management. The aromatics: Cuban jazz immersion, co-founding a Personal Health Data Bank, and celebrating with old friends on Bloom Mountain. The heat: losing 50 pounds, ea...

Kirk & Lacy on shifting research funding away from federal grants: what happens to community partnerships when the money—and the rules—change? Summary Three Audiences, One Report Lacy Fabian and Kirk Knestis untangle a fundamental confusion in community health research: there are three distinct audiences with competing needs—funders want accountability, researchers want generalizable knowledge, and communities want immediate benefit. Current practice optimizes for the funder, producing delivera...

Your health data belongs to you—but how can you share it safely? Fabienne Bourgeois, MD, exposes the complex truth about privacy, permissions, and data control. Summary According to Fabienne Bourgeois, MD, patients want control over their health data, but privacy preferences and constant changes complicate this. The discussion is relevant to people with disabilities, caregivers, and others navigating complex health information. About 80% of people share common privacy concerns that current syst...

Healthcare AI isn’t a tech problem—it’s a mirror reflecting how our health system already fails. Uncomfortable truths from Datapalooza 2025. Summary We’re asking the wrong questions about AI in healthcare. Instead of debating whether it’s good or bad, we need to examine the system-eating-its-tail contradictions we’ve created: locking away vital data so AI learns from everything except what matters most, demanding transparency from inherently secretive companies, and fearing tools could make us ...

Letters beat emails for trustworthiness. A gullible skeptic reflects on navigating trust in a 50-year marriage, and the energy cost of distrust. Click here to view the printable newsletter with images. More readable than a transcript, which can also be found below. Please comment and ask questions: at the comment section at the bottom of the show notes on LinkedIn via email YouTube channel DM on Instagram, TikTok to @healthhats Production Team Kayla Nelson: Web and Social Media Coach, Disse...

Ronda Alexander on strategies to build inclusive health coalitions, manage power dynamics, center marginalized voices, & design sustainable governance. Summary In this episode of Health Hats, host Danny van Leeuwen talks with Ronda Alexander, a community health advocate and skilled facilitator, about the challenges of building and maintaining effective health coalitions. Alexander shares her journey from attending Detroit’s innovative Henry Ford Academy to working with Ford Partnership for Adva...

Exploring bird flu prevention with farm owner Shannon Hayes. Discover boot washing, flock protection with coyotes, and best practices in biosecurity. Summary 🎯 The Lede: Bird flu cycles have shortened, forcing farmers like Shannon Hayes to reimagine their biosecurity protocols completely. Farm owner Shannon Hayes reveals how her family protects their livestock from bird flu at Sap Bush Hollow Farm. Key strategies include washing boots with soap and vinegar solutions, timing poultry purchases f...

MS patient turned healthcare disruptor shares why your biggest “problem users” are actually your most valuable system improvers. Summary 🎯 The Lede: Collaborate with patients, caregivers, and clinician partners to develop tools that truly inform health decisions. From a reluctant keynote speaker who prefers hallway conversations comes wisdom about transforming healthcare through authentic partnership. At the American Nursing Informatics Association conference, Danny van Leeuwen shared how his ...

These families created a pandemic pod with clear rules & shared childcare. While adults navigated anxiety, their kids called it “the best time of their lives.” Summary Bevin Croft and David Weintraub talk about their experience forming a “pod” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Hats introduces participatory governance – a concept I’ve studied throughout my life in various contexts, including families, communities, organizations, and healthcare. My history with governance spans from 1968, thr...

Who needs Spanish when you’ve got a saxophone? A music-lover proves that disability access is just another improvisation in Havana’s jazz scene. Best viewed as a video https://youtu.be/Qz9Rm89LHD0 Summary Danny, Health Hats, chronicles his week-long trip to Cuba in January for a music-cultural exchange. Using a wheelchair and playing baritone saxophone, he traveled with a group of 11 from the States, organized by Dan Fox and Arlington MA’s Morningside Studios. The group participated in a “Ban...

Data scientist Emily Hadley on navigating AI in healthcare, offering practical advice for maintaining patient agency amid algorithmic decision-making. Summary This interview with data scientist Emily Hadley examines the intersection of artificial intelligence and healthcare through a deeply personal lens. Hadley’s journey began when her own health diagnosis coincided with her graduate studies in analytics, revealing how algorithm-driven systems often affect patient care—especially through insur...

A child of Holocaust survivors balances pathological optimism with apocalyptic thinking while seeking meaningful ways to channel advocacy in turbulent times. Summary In this deeply personal episode, a child of Holocaust survivors reflects on navigating today’s global chaos while maintaining hope in healthcare. As a seasoned healthcare advocate, they share insights on: Leveraging privilege for positive change Finding balance between optimism and realism Adapting communication strategies for g...

Successfully sharing & acting on research findings depends on active partnerships with the implementers – patients, caregivers, & their clinician partners. Summary Claude AI consulted to create this summary The 2024 Academy Health Dissemination & Implementation (D&I) Science Conference revealed a significant gap between researchers and implementers (patients, caregivers, and their clinician partners). While D&I science studies how to share and apply research findings effectively, the conferenc...

Demystify AI’s evolution, from Netflix recommendations to ChatGPT, exploring how neural networks learn & why even AI creators can’t fully explain how it works. Summary Claude AI used in this summary 🎙️ What the Heck is AI, Anyway? I sit down with tech expert Eric Pinaud to demystify artificial intelligence. Whether AI-curious or AI-anxious, this conversation breaks down complex concepts into digestible insights. We explore: • The evolution from Narrow AI (like Netflix recommendations) to tod...

Reflecting on community & self-care post-election. MS teaches patience. Adjusting media habits, finding strength in family history, music, & trusted connections. Summary Health Hats muses about physical, mental, and spiritual health, community connections, and self-care during these post-election times. He has changed his media consumption habits and is learning from his experiences with multiple sclerosis. He expresses anxiety and a dark curiosity about the future, drawing strength from family...

What kind of Artificial Intelligence does Health Hats, the Podcast, use in production? Understanding types of AI, transparency, and ethical considerations. Summary Perplexity used in this summary AI Tools in Use Various AI-powered software and apps are utilized in production, including Zoom, Descript, Grammarly, DaVinci Resolve, Canva, Perplexity, and OpenArt AI. Types of AI The episode breaks down different categories of AI, including Narrow AI, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and Art...

Effective solutions & ethical guardrails for data-driven decision-making, care, & treatment require patient involvement in policy & technology development. Summary Patient Insights on Health Access, Technology, and Public Policy Data should inform decision-making for a triad of patients, caregivers, and clinician partners. Some patients desire data sovereignty – the ability to access, use, and share their health data. However, managing personal health data can be overwhelming for individual...

Philip Shadle, CEO, Aimee Copeland Foundation opens outdoor accessibility for disabled individuals with all-terrain wheelchairs. My endorphins flow. Yeehaw! Summary This podcast episode features an interview with Philip Shadle, CEO of the Aimee Copeland Foundation, discussing the transformative impact of all-terrain wheelchairs on accessibility and outdoor experiences for individuals with disabilities. The podcast underscores the importance of accessibility and inclusion in outdoor activities...

Aaron Carroll, CEO of Academy Health, discusses his journey to improve health systems & decision making through community engagement & repetitive communication. Summary Aaron Carroll, CEO of Academy Health, shares his journey, from his frustrations with the healthcare system as a pediatrician, and the role of mentorship and science communication in his career. He delves into his efforts to make complex health issues understandable to diverse audiences through various media, his role in improvin...

Family and friends dispersed Mighty Casey (Mary) Quinlan’s ashes in the Gulfstream, reflecting on her life and sharing outrageous and mundane pics and stories. Summary On May 24, 2024, Mighty Casey Quinlan’s ashes were spread in the Gulfstream of the Atlantic Ocean near Stuart, Florida. This episode captures the layers of that experience, featuring an introduction conversation between Jan Oldenburg and Health Hats, recorded on June 27. The episode includes self-introductions of the dispersal pa...