3 Ways to Increase Arthritis Awareness This Month Without Spending a Dime

Arthritis Awareness Month is here.

Do you feel different?

Probably not. We know your arthritis pain doesn’t take a month off but we figured we’d jump on the awareness month bandwagon because, why not? Truthfully, we think these months are a little silly which is why we created, brace yourself for a plug: #Arthritis365 on Twitter — because we need arthritis awareness every day.

Now that we got our feelings out of the way…

Here are three ways to increase awareness this month without spending/donating a dime. Yes, for free and with no strings attached. And as an added benefit, you can even do these activities in June and December, or any other month, because there’s no expiration date on awareness.

1. Sign up for research.

We know research can be boring and scary. It often has big words that normal people don’t use. But the reality is that it is super important. Did you know that without research there would be internet? Yes, no internet — where would we watch cat videos?!? The horror. But seriously, you would not be reading this without research. And as people with chronic diseases, we need research to advance treatments and help us live happier healthier lives. We created a simple app called ArthritisPower that helps you participate in research while gaining useful information about how your disease is progressing. Learn more at arthritispower.org.

2. Commit to advocacy.

No matter if you wear a red trucker hat or pink pussy hat, advocacy is important. Think about how local, state and federal policies impact your everyday life. Some may argue that advocacy impacts you more than research (but please don’t tell our hard-working research team that). To get involved in patient advocacy, check out our 50-State Network of patient advocates. In this program you will meet other patients who are leading the fight for better access and pro-you policies. Learn more at www.50statenetwork.org.

3. Share our patient guidelines.

Information is power. At least that what we are taught in school. We know that having a chronic disease like arthritis can be overwhelming and that when looking for information you could find a lot of bad information. Like really bad information. Information that provides a false sense of hope because someone’s friend’s aunt “cured” her arthritis by eating a rare berry while doing the Macarena. That’s why we created our patient guidelines so people living with arthritis have a trusted guide for their disease. We currently have patient guidelines for rheumatoid arthritis and plans to roll out more diseases soon. Learn more at creakyjoints.org/patientguidelines.

This blog first appeared on CreakyJoints.

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Thinkstock photo by syntika