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Arthritis Control: A Good Investment
Early diagnosis and appropriate management of arthritis, including
self-management activities such as self-help courses, weight control, and
physical activity, can help people with arthritis function better, stay
productive, and have lower health care costs.
- A recent study estimated that an insurer or health care organization
that implements the Arthritis Self-Help Course among just 10,000
people with arthritis can expect a net savings of more than $2.5
million over 4 years.
- Achieving a healthy weight lowers a person’s risk for developing
osteoarthritis in the knees. It can also slow progression of the
disease in people who already have it and delay costly knee
replacement surgery.
- Moderate physical activity relieves arthritis pain and stiffness and
improves a person's mood and outlook.
Effective Strategies and Promising Approaches
- The Arthritis Self-Help Course, developed at Stanford University, is
a 6-week course that teaches people how to manage their arthritis and
lessen its effects. Arthritis pain declined by 20% and costly
physician visits were reduced by 40% among people who completed the
course. Unfortunately, fewer than 1% of Americans with
arthritis participate in such programs, and courses are not offered in
all areas of the United States. Making the Arthritis Self-Help Course
and other self-management strategies a routine part of health care for
people with arthritis should help reduce arthritis-related pain and
health care costs.
- Increasing public awareness about the importance of early diagnosis
should increase appropriate management for inflammatory arthritis and
connective tissue diseases.
- Getting the message out about the benefits of a healthy weight and
moderate physical activity should help people with arthritis.
Hope for the Future
CDC is working with the Arthritis Foundation and other partners to
carry out the National Arthritis Action Plan: A Public Health Strategy.
The plan was developed to guide the use of the nation’s resources to
decrease the burden of arthritis for all Americans and increase the
quality of life of those affected by arthritis. It provides a blueprint
for reducing pain, activity limitations, and disability among people with
arthritis, as well as for preventing certain types of arthritis, as called
for in Healthy People 2010.
CDC Funding for State Arthritis
Programs, Fiscal Year 2002
*Currently no states are funded at this level.
(A text
version of this graphic is also available.)
State Programs in Action
Pine
Apple, Alabama
Arthritis affects 1.1 million Alabamans—that’s more than one
in three people. Nearly half of these people have household incomes
below $20,000 a year, and half have not completed high school. For
people who live outside the major metropolitan areas of Alabama,
access to health care continues to be a problem.
With
CDC support, Alabama is developing and evaluating a community
project to improve access to arthritis care in Pine Apple, an
African American community in rural Wilcox County. This county has
low socioeconomic status and poor health indicators. The project
builds on an existing model program by adding the Arthritis
Self-Help Course.
Developing partnerships is a key component of the project.
Because of the partnerships developed, this project has already
improved access to care. A rheumatologist now travels 2 hours from
Tuscaloosa to hold a clinic one day a month. At the clinic,
arthritis patients receive specialized care and treatment that was
previously unavailable in this medically underserved area.
Community-based programs such as the Pine Apple project are
effective because they are responsive to the needs and culture of
the community. This project may serve as a model for reaching
underserved populations in other states as well.
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For more information or updates, visit www.cdc.gov/nccdphp.
For additional copies or updates of this document, E-mail ccdinfo@cdc.gov.
Department of
Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
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