By Irwin Lim, Rheumatologist
At BJC Health, we spend a lot of time educating patients about their disease. In particular, we spend a lot of time at the time of diagnosis.
For a person living with a chronic disease like rheumatoid arthritis, understanding the consequences of the disease and what the body is going through is crucial in coping. From a rheumatologist's point of view, it's also crucial that a patient understands the need for appropriate treatment to avoid the dreadful consequences of the disease.
Typically, our rheumatologists & the rheumatology educator/nurse will perform the bulk of this education. We also use web-based resources and use the very good, disease & medication information sheets from the Australian Rheumatology Association.
A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled onto Rheumatoid Arthritis Guy's website. The site details the "Adventures of a superhero on his journey through chronic pain and debilitating inflammation".
This superhero has created a guide on rheumatoid arthritis. This will take 60 seconds to read. With Rheumatoid Arthritis Guy's kind permission, I enclose it here for you.
I like it a lot & feel it may help my patients understand. What do you think?
Dr Irwin Lim is a rheumatologist and a director of BJC Health.
BJC Health provides a connected care multidisciplinary team philosophy to deliver positive lifestyle outcomes through a holistic approach to those with degenerative & inflammatory arthritis, tendon injury and lifestyle diseases. Our clinics are located in Parramatta, Chatswood and Brookvale. Contact us.
This blog focuses on arthritis-related diseases, healthcare in general, and our Connected Care philosophy.
Stop Press: Stopping recurrent fractures after suffering a fracture from weak bones (osteoporosis) is a priority. We have launched our Refracture Prevention Program at our Parramatta clinic to stop bones breaking.