Scleroderma and the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, Cheryl Koehn, Founder and President, speaks to ACE’s VP Communications & Public Affairs, Kelly Lendvoy, about the highlights from the February 2024 issue of the JointHealth™ insight newsletter, including:

• the newly published State of Arthritis in Canada Report Card
• feature article on arthritis models of care gaps and solutions across northern communities in Canada
• a look at biosimilars cost savings reinvestment in the healthcare system

Additional learning resources

• JointHealth™ insight – Today’s arthritis experience in Canada: The view from the street
• The State of Arthritis in Canada Report Card

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, Cheryl Koehn and Dr. Marie Westby discuss about the EQUIP-TJR study they are working on. The study is studying patient experiences and the quality of care during their rehabilitation (rehab) after total joint replacement (TJR). 

Dr. Westby’s team is now creating an online toolkit of resources called the EQUIP-TJR toolkit. It includes a variety of print and electronic resources created with patient input. Before testing the toolkit in clinical settings, they would like to know your views on the quality indicators related to rehab after discharge from the hospital. They are also interested in your overall rehab experience and satisfaction.

Your responses will help the research team to refine the questionnaire and capture a ‘snap shot’ of current rehab practices across Canada.

If you would like to complete the 20-25 minute survey, go to: http://tiny.cc/PatientQISurvey.

The survey closes Feb. 28, 2024. Two $50 Indigo gift cards will be offered as prize draws!

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Timothy Kwok, resident rheumatologist at the University of Toronto, about gout.

Gout is a form of arthritis which is caused by a build-up of a crystal called uric acid in the body. Normally, uric acid is processed by the kidneys and eliminated from the body through urine. In the case of gout, the kidneys do not eliminate uric acid well enough, or in some people with gout, too much uric acid is produced. 

Additional learning resources

• Arthritis Consumer Experts’ About Gout page
• Gout and other crystal arthropathies in Canada

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Maggie Larché, Professor, Divisions of Rheumatology and Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, and Director, Canadian Scleroderma Research Group. She discusses about scleroderma, its symptoms and connection with Raynaud’s phenomenon.

Additional learning resources

• Scleroderma Canada
• Arthritis Consumer Experts’ about scleroderma page
• Arthritis Consumer Experts’ about Raynaud’s phenomenon page
• Canadian Scleroderma Research Group

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Drs. Lisa Lix and Lily Lim, about artificial intelligence (AI) in practice and the pattern mining of healthcare data for complex chronic conditions. Dr. Lix is professor and associate head of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba and currently serves on the board of directors of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute. Dr. Lim is a pediatric rheumatologist at Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba.

Additional learning resources

• The Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
• Building equitable AI for public health

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Mollie Carruthers, academic rheumatologist practicing at Artus Health Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, about IgG4-related disease.

IgG4-related disease describes a group of fibroinflammatory diseases that affect a variety of tissues resulting in tumor-like effect and/or organ dysfunction.

Additional learning resources

• IgG4-related disease: An introduction
• How to diagnose IgG4-related disease

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Michelle Batthish, Associate Professor, Pediatric Rheumatology, at McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences. Dr. Batthish discusses about transitioning from pediatric to adult arthritis care and shares transitioning tips for patients and their family members.

Additional learning resources

• MyTransition App
• Canadian Rheumatology Association Paper: Bridging the Gaps – Optimizing the Transition from Pediatric to Adult Rheumatology Care

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Sasha Bernatsky, rheumatologist, a James McGill professor, and a senior scientist in the Centre for Health Outcomes Research and Division of Clinical Epidemiology at the Research Institute of the MUHC. Dr. Bernatsky discusses about air pollution and its relationship with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases like arthritis.

Additional learning resources

• Fine particulate air pollution and systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease in two Canadian provinces
• Study Finds Association Between RA Biomarker and Certain Air Pollutants

Winter Solstice is a special time in Indigenous cultures, symbolizing the turning of seasons and a period for recharging our spirits, connecting with our communities, and fostering change both within and around us. In this special holiday episode of Arthritis at Home, Kelly Lendvoy and Cheryl Koehn discuss how this meaning of Winter Solstice inspired ACE’s holiday message this year as they reflect on ACE’s education and advocacy programming highlights in 2023 and look ahead to ACE’s plans for 2024.

To our Arthritis at Home audience and to people living with arthritis across Canada, ACE wishes you a safe and healthy holiday as we celebrate this Winter Solstice in the spirit of peace, rest, reflection, and rejuvenation.

Additional learning resources

• ACE National Surveys
  • Arthritis and Health Literacy Part 1
  • Arthritis and Health Literacy Part 2
  • Arthritis and Mental Health
  • Arthritis and Exercise
• Arthritis Community Learning Circle: Arthritis Call to Action website
• ACE Advocacy

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, Ms. Ellen Wang, ACE’s programs coordinator, speaks with Dr. Codie Primeau, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Arthritis Research Canada and the University of British Columbia.  Throughout their discussion, Codie describes how he and his team plan to use Citizen Science as an approach to engaging with individuals who are sexually and gender diverse and work collaboratively to co-develop research questions that are meaningful for 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities. 

Additional learning resources

• Engage with the burden of pain online platform here
• Dr. Primeau and team are also doing another study in parallel with long COVID. Learn more and engage with the platform here
• Dr. Primeau’s presentation about the whole project at the September KT Connects
• A report from the Standing Committee on Health in Canada presented to the House of Commons addressing the health of 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities in Canada