UPPER NYACK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CreakyJoints® today announced the expansion of their patient guideline library with the publication of “A Patient’s Guide to Living With Psoriatic Arthritis,” and “A Patient’s Guide to Living with Ankylosing Spondylitis.” These two patient guidelines are the first ever to be developed by and for patients, and reviewed by rheumatologists, specifically for use by psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) patients and their caregivers. The first guidelines in the series, “Raising the Voice of Patients: A Patient’s Guide to Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis,” published in January. CreakyJoints will continue to develop and publish patient guidelines that address related conditions, such as osteoarthritis, arthroplasty, and a family planning supplement for autoimmune diseases.
“Before I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, I defined arthritis in a very limited way. But people living with AS experience specific symptoms, complications and prognosis,” stated AS patient and CreakyJoints volunteer advocate Regan Reynolds. “These patient guidelines will help the newly diagnosed and the experienced patient like me better understand our treatment and management options. The patient guidelines will help our community identify and bring our questions to our doctors and nurses and others, so that we can take a leadership role in determining our future care, which is important to me. I can’t control having AS, but I can take control of my treatment strategy.”
Unique Conditions Demand Unique Guidance
Both sets of patient guidelines were written by a dedicated panel that included patients, rheumatologists, and CreakyJoints’ staff writers. Organized similarly, all three patient guidelines open with a Patient Charter that reaffirms CreakyJoints’ perspective that patients should be at the center of the care with access to treatments that are not limited by external forces (financial or otherwise). The patient guidelines describe the symptoms, diagnosis and possible prognosis associated with each specific diagnosis. In addition, the wide range of treatment options ranging from medications to holistic and complementary therapies (e.g. diet, physical therapies, meditation and complementing treatment) are detailed without bias, based on best evidence, to provide a comprehensive education to patients and families making decisions about their future health.
“After a long wait, an actual doctor’s appointment can go by very quickly. A huge amount of information may be exchanged. But afterwards, questions inevitably arise and it’s important that patients have a credible, comprehensive resource to turn to for information and answers,” stated Seth Ginsberg, President and Co-Founder of CreakyJoints. “There is a massive appetite on the part of the patients, their family, friends and the public, to understand these complex conditions. Thousands of patients have begun downloading these free resources, and we hope that thousands of voices are now raised with decision-makers.”
“Raising the Voice of the Patients: A Patient’s Guide to Living with Psoriatic Arthritis,” was under the medical direction and review of Dr. Joseph Merola, M.D., Associate Physician, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School. “Raising the Voice of the Patients: Patient’s Guide to Living with Ankylosing Spondylitis,” was reviewed by Dr. David Borenstein, M.D., Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology at The George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC.
Both patient guidelines are available for free download at http://www.CreakyJoints.org/PatientGuidelines
About CreakyJoints
CreakyJoints®, now in its 18th year, is the go-to source for more than 100,000 arthritis patients and their families world-wide who are seeking education, support, advocacy and patient-centered research. Co-founded in 1999 by arthritis patient Seth Ginsberg and social entrepreneur Louis Tharp, CreakyJoints is part of the Global Healthy Living Foundation, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with chronic illness. For more information and to become a member (for free), visit www.CreakyJoints.org.
