arthritis at home

People with arthritis are at higher risk for developing mental health issues. Researchers believe that pain, fatigue, and other symptoms aggravate mental health and reduce the ability to self-manage and cope with arthritis. In this episode of Arthritis At Home, Kelly Lendvoy and Ellen Wang discuss the ACE Survey on mental health. 

ACE hopes to understand what steps people living with arthritis can take to care for their mental health and what specific challenges they may face when accessing professional and timely care. The Survey is open to people living with any form of arthritis and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.  The Survey deadline is June 8, 2022. 

Click here to complete the survey – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ACESurveyMentalHealth

Ontario’s leading arthritis centre being forced to shut down

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, Kelly Lendvoy speaks to Dr. Carter Thorne, Chief, Division of Rheumatology and Director, The Arthritis Program (TAP) and Carrie Barnes, TAP’s patient ambassador, to learn more about the nationally acclaimed arthritis clinic and Southlake’s decision to close it, effective January 15, 2021.

The decision could leave more than 2,200 inflammatory arthritis patients seeking to find care in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Thorne and Ms. Barnes talk about the impact on patients and what concerned individuals can do to show support and oppose the closure.

• Take action now to #SaveTAPNow, contact your MPP – https://bit.ly/SaveTAPNowLettertoMPP
• Make news now to #SaveTAPNow, write a letter-to-the-editor of your community newspaper - https://bit.ly/SaveTAPNowLettertoEditor

New Brunswick on September 14th and Saskatchewan on October 26th are the first two jurisdictions in Canada to hold elections during the throes of the COVID-19 crisis. On this special episode of Arthritis At Home, ACE’s President, Cheryl Koehn, interviews ACE’s VP Communications & Public Affairs, Kelly Lendvoy, to gain insights into the unprecedented logistical and public health challenges the pandemic presents to campaigns and elections. “There’s no playbook for planning an election during a pandemic,” explains Lendvoy.

The two ACE leaders also look at how health care is debated during election campaigns and the importance of arthritis patients ensuring their voices and issues are heard and discussed.

For further information on upcoming provincial elections in Canada, please visit:

Arthritis Consumer Experts

Arthritis At Home: https://arthritisathome.jointhealth.org/

Taking Action Homepage – Provincial Elections: https://jointhealth.org/electionNewBrunswick2020.cfm?locale=en-CA

Elections New Brunswick: https://www.electionsnb.ca/content/enb/en.html

Elections Saskatchewan: https://www.elections.sk.ca

In this episode of Arthritis At Home, Maya Joshi and Cheryl Koehn discuss conquering anxiety and fear related to your arthritis and the process of showing yourself that you are more than your disease. Maya begins by explaining the physical and psychological barriers that have held her back in the past and then highlights the strategies that have helped her overcome these barriers, using the example of a recent canoe trip. 

Maya Joshi is the Programs Coordinator at Arthritis Consumer Experts and a student at the University of British Columbia. Maya was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis about 4 years ago just after graduating high school. Since then, Maya has become an active member in the arthritis community, always learning from and inspired by other patients, researchers and healthcare providers. Although she has experienced a number of disease challenges that have significantly impacted her life as a young adult, she is making exciting strides in her disease journey, working her way back to feeling like her “normal” self again.  

Helpful links

Arthritis At Home: https://arthritisathome.jointhealth.org/  

Mental health and arthritis: a complex relationship: https://jointhealth.org/programs-jhinsight-view.cfm?id=1231&locale=en-CA  

How to stay active and exercise at home during COVID-19 with Dr. Linda Li: https://arthritisathome.jointhealth.org/?p=590 

Patient resources for inflammatory arthritis: https://jointhealth.org/pdfs/ModelsOfCare_E.pdf