Tag Archives: acr 2017

ACR Coverage: OA Management, Telehealth, Medical Marijuana and More

Our team of Patient Representatives and staff hit the ground running Monday to take in a range of sessions at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the ACR/AHRP (Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals).

Donna Dernier sat in on a session titled “Moving Toward Better Osteoarthritis Management.” In it, Kelli Allen, a research professor of medicine from the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said there is plenty of good evidence that certain behavioral therapies can work to better manage osteoarthritis (OA), but the message is getting lost in translation to the patient. Dernier reports, “The good news is there are agreed-upon strategies that work well to reduce pain and increase mobility. These include weight loss, better sleep patterns, judicious use of pain meds, increased exercise. Unfortunately, compliance isn’t always as high as doctors would like. Causes for this could be: non-shared decision making, a patient’s lack of confidence in the recommendation, or perhaps difficulty in actually getting to [physical therapy] sessions.”

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acr patient voices 2017

Patients Weigh In on ACR Sessions

The 2017 American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) Annual Meeting (#ACR17) was in full swing Sunday in San Diego with health care professionals from all over the world in attendance, and the Arthritis Foundation had a cadre of Patient Representatives there to participate and report on what they saw and heard.

One session that received a lot of attention and praise from the Patient Reps was the Association of Rheumatology Health Professional (AHRP) keynote address titled “Exercise is Medicine: We All Need to Say the Same Thing.”

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acr patient rep program 2017

Learn About the ACR Arthritis Foundation Patient Representative Program

There is growing evidence to support the value of patient engagement in research and healthcare activities. Case studies from drug and device development, academic research, and other healthcare sectors cite the impact of engaging expert patient partners in the design, conduct, and dissemination of research, discovery, and delivery initiatives.  Encouraged and facilitated by entities like the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), academic and clinical professional societies are beginning to adopt more patient-engaged strategies as well, like the inclusion of patient representatives at annual meetings and scientific conferences.  In 2017, the Arthritis Foundation is partnering with the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) to pilot an Arthritis Foundation Patient Representative program (#AFPatientReps), bringing a cadre of ten highly involved, engaged patients to attend and participate in #ACR17, the ACR/ARHP annual meeting.

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bing chang spotlight

Highlighting a Thought Leader: Bing Chang

The Arthritis Foundation champions the fight against arthritis and we are excited to have thought leaders, such as Rowland W. (Bing) Chang, MD, MPH, as a partner in this fight.

Dr. Chang is a rheumatologist, epidemiologist and health services researcher. He was named chair of the Arthritis Foundation’s board of directors in November 2016.

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acr banner 2017

Your Patient, Our Focus: Arthritis Foundation at ACR

The Arthritis Foundation is excited to participate in #ACR17, the Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. This year, the 2017 ACR Annual Meeting is taking place Nov. 3-8 in San Diego, California! Close to 17,000 rheumatologists, rheumatology health professionals, fellows-in-training, and exhibitors from more than 100 countries are expected to attend to discuss the latest scientific advances, clinical issues, professional development, and more. We are proud to be amongst the thought leaders in the field of rheumatology.

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