Did you know May is Arthritis Awareness Month?
As hand therapists, we help people with arthritis improve the quality of their lives by learning self-management techniques for their hand arthritis. We teach them methods to control pain, maintain function and limit stress across their joints. In the spirit of constantly learning, let’s learn about the impact arthritis has in people’s lives across our country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a robust resource on their website about data related to arthritis prevalence nationally and state based, comorbidities, health disparities and disabilities/limitations. I encourage you to explore these resources and learn a little more about how many people in your community live with arthritis, how it impacts their activity level/social participation and how these distributions may differ depending on sex, age and geography. There are also Arthritis Appropriate Evidence Based Interventions (AAEBIs) that are recommended by the CDC, and there is a compendium of these resources that is divided into physical activity and self-management interventions. Many of these resources may be accessible to your patients and have been shown to improve health and quality of life in this population.
ASHT also has resources specific to arthritis affecting the hand including:
- An educational video series on CMC arthroplasty management
- A webinar on MCP and PIP arthroplasties
- Patient education resources about CMC Arthritis , LRTI and Osteoarthritis of the Hand
- A HandCare blog – as part of a collaboration with ASSH – discussing joint protection
I hope you have found exploring these resources interesting and hopefully there is information that will also translate well to the people you care for day to day in your practice. Happy Arthritis Awareness Month!