In this episode of Arthritis At Home, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Ms. Julie Herrington, an Advanced Physiotherapist Practitioner with ACPAC (Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Arthritis Care) training working with the pediatric and young adult rheumatology teams at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario.

In her discussion with Cheryl, she shares highlights from her two posters. The first poster looked at an advanced physiotherapist practitioner’s level of safety performing juvenile idiopathic arthritis care. They compared quality and standards of care, safety, and performance indicators between patients receiving advanced physiotherapist practitioner care with those in the PR-COIN Registry. PR-COIN is a collaborative community where patients, parents, clinicians, and researchers work together to improve the health and care of children and youth with rheumatic conditions.

The second poster highlights parents and teens’ feedback about their satisfaction with the advanced physiotherapist practitioner model of care in pediatric rheumatology. The study found that satisfaction level is high. The parents and teens felt that appointments were thorough and valuable.

Additional learning resources

• Pediatric Rheumatology (PR-COIN) Care & Outcomes Improvement Network
• Advanced Training in Extended Practice Roles in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Disease
• McMaster Children’s Hospital
• Arthritis Consumer Experts’ About Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis page
• Canadian Alliance of Pediatric Rheumatology Investigators

In this episode of Arthritis at Home, we explore an issue that affects every person who relies on medication to manage their disease: why are some medications so expensive, and what role do pharmaceutical patents play in access to affordable treatment?

Host Kelly Lendvoy speaks with Cheryl Koehn, President, Arthritis Consumer Experts, about the launch of the new Patients and patents website as part of a global, patient-led initiative designed to help patients better understand how patent rules can influence the cost and availability of the medications they depend on. Together, they discuss how patents are meant to protect innovation but sometimes are used in ways that delay access to affordable options like biosimilars, and what patients and organizations can do to get involved in the campaign.

Additional learning resources

• Patients and patents: A grassroots education campaign on pharmaceutical patents
• The “Patients and patents” campaign infographic

What does mental health really look like when you are living with arthritis?

In a new episode of Arthritis at Home, Kelly Lendvoy talks to Cheryl Koehn, President, Arthritis Consumer Experts about the emotional challenges of living with arthritis and the launch of JointHealth™ Education – Arthritis and Mental Health, covering important topics for people living with arthritis:

• What patients told us about the emotional toll of arthritis in ACE’s National Survey on Arthritis and Mental Health
• Why mental health is still not routinely discussed in appointments
• The two-way relationship between pain and mood
• How small, realistic steps can strengthen resilience
• Why asking for support is a sign of strength, not weakness

The new JointHealth™ Education online course was developed to help people living with arthritis better understand the connection between arthritis and mental health and to provide practical strategies to strengthen emotional well-being.

Additional learning resources

• Click here to take the course
• Arthritis Consumer Experts Survey Report on Arthritis and Mental Health
• Mental Health Commission of Canada