American Arthritis Foundation Is The Largest, Most Viable Non-Profit Organization Dealing With Arthritis

The American Arthritis Foundation is the largest as well as the most viable non-profit organization that deals with arthritis, and who fund arthritis research as well as provide educational information to patients. It is the prototype for future relationships that may come to exist between non-profit organizations and corporate America. Current trends are leading toward organizations developing strategic partnerships with companies instead of entering into short-term relationships.

Let’s Talk RA Program And More

The American Arthritis Foundation has developed the Let’s Talk RA program with the support of Bristol-Meyers Squibb to help teach patients to become active participants in managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A first step in this direction requires ordering a free Let’s Talk RA Communication Kit, which includes a Communication Guide, a Health Assessment Questionnaire, a Participant Survey as well as additional helpful information from the American Arthritis Foundation and Bristol-Meyers Squibb.

It is important for those suffering fromrheumatoid arthritis to have a voice in their treatment plan as well as disease management. Taking the trouble of ordering the Let’s Talk RA Communication Kit is the first step and a positive choice in taking control over the disease, and the American Arthritis Foundation encourages active participation in this regard.

Living with the pain of osteoarthritis might be considered as needing to spend of one’s lifetime sitting on the sidelines, and not being able to participate in games. However, people like John Elway, former Denver Bronco player and spokesperson for Game Plan for OA, an American Arthritis Foundation program, show that employing strategies such as those employed by Elway will help control OA as well as help patients achieve their goals.

The American Arthritis Foundation also uses sources such as clinical experts; scientists form many different research disciplines as well as organizations having an interest in arthritis and related diseases to compile annual lists of all the highlights in arthritis on a yearly basis. Also, researchers enjoying the support of the American Arthritis Foundation have discovered new pathways that regulate joint destruction associated with inflammatory arthritis.

The American Arthritis Foundation also has all the facts pertaining to arthritis, and one can learn from them that between 1985 to 2006 the number of arthritis patients shot up from 35 million to 46 million and that arthritis is a leading chronic health problem that is causing Americans over the age of 15 much disability, being second only to heart disease as a cause of disability at work.

American Arthritis Association Exercise Program

At the start of any program, patients should set long- and short-term goals. Doctors and other healthcare professionals need to identify:

• patients' barriers to becoming more active
• people who will offer social support
• a reward system that will help motivate each person