CreakyJoints Publishing Patient Guide to RA

Promising that their advice will be “detailed” and “straightforward, ” CreakyJoints, a source for those living with arthritis, has announced the forthcoming publication of “A Patient’s Guide to Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis.” The CreakyJoints Patient Charter was developed and endorsed by CreakyJoints’ national Patient Council as well as select rheumatologists. The guide will be published in first quarter of 2017

“The diagnosis of a lifelong chronic disease like RA can be overwhelming, but it is vital that patients be at the center of decisions about their treatment and management strategy, ” stated Seth Ginsberg, president and co-founder of CreakyJoints, in the November 14, 2016 news release. “The Patient Charter spells out the eight tenets that the arthritis community should expect and demand from the healthcare they receive to better ensure that we patients are at the center of decision-making. Coming soon, for the first time, patients have a detailed, straight-forward guide to help them navigate and understand their options, including tips about applying health knowledge so that they can feel more in control of their journey with RA.”

“More than ever before, patients across all disease categories can access a mountain of information simply by asking ‘Dr. Google, ’ but the risk is that it can be challenging to identify credible sources and to assess what constitutes good medical advice, ” stated Jonathan Krant, M.D., medical director of CreakyJoints and section chief of Rheumatology at Adirondack Health Systems in Saranac Lake, New York. “These guidelines will help patients decode their treatment options and provide tools to help them ask the questions that are important to them as they decide their management strategy.”

Seth Ginsberg told OTW, “CreakyJoints has embarked on a new and urgently needed project to create patient-friendly and patient-centered guidelines for the treatment of arthritis. We began with rheumatoid arthritis, with plans to issue guidance for other conditions (psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and osteoarthritis) in the New Year. This came about as a result of serving on the American College of Rheumatology’s RA Treatment Guideline panel in 2014-2015, which taught us the process of issuing guidelines, and as importantly, illustrating the gap in support and guidance for patients to compliment the guidance provided by their doctors and surgeons.”

Asked about tips included in the guide, he noted, “The first set of guidelines—and future guidelines—all include a Patient Charter. These are patient principles that state clearly the wants and needs of patients and their families: that we belong at the center of all decisions, and that whatever we—along with our doctors and surgeons—determine is best, is what we deserve. Patients and their families must raise their voices with decision-makers, whether they’re doctors, surgeons and nurses or insurance companies or policymakers. Having a ‘handbook’ to reference, explaining the ins and outs of the diseases, is the first and most crucial step to helping patients get what they need from the healthcare system.”