Affordability of medications is a big issue for many people living with a chronic disease, like inflammatory arthritis. One of the drivers of high costs for medications is the misuse of patents by original-brand manufacturers to extend their patent and delay the competition from affordable generic and biosimilar medications. 

In this episode of Arthritis at Home, ACE’s Cheryl Koehn previews the launch of an international grassroots education campaign on pharmaceutical patents, titled “Patients and patents.” Cheryl describes how the awareness raising campaign is focussed on helping patients, health care providers, and the public understand how pharmaceutical patents work. When used responsibly, patents encourage innovation and ensure patients receive new and improved treatments. But when misused to extend patent protection, they can extend monopolies on original-brand medications and delay access to more affordable treatment options and strain health system budgets.

 Additional learning resources

• About the Campaign fact sheet
• Questions and Answers
• Infographic
• Glossary of Key Terms
• Social Media Kit

Self-management plans that are made to fit the needs of individuals have the potential to improve quality of life, confidence to self-manage, and other aspects of health. In today’s episode, Kelly Lendvoy speaks to Ellen Wang, Arthritis Research Canada trainee and ACE’s Programs Coordinator, about a study looking at research studies on the benefits of tailored self-management plans for arthritis and other chronic musculoskeletal conditions. 

Additional learning resource

• Infographic: Tailored Self-Management for Chronic Musculoskeletal Conditions : What Does Research Reveal? 
• Poster : Effect of Tailored Self-Management Interventions on Health Outcomes in Individuals with Chronic Musculoskeletal Condition 
• Arthritis Society Canada: Self-management
• American College of Rheumatology : Self-Management for Patients Living with Rheumatic Conditions
• Take the ACE National Survey on Artificial Intelligence and Arthritis Care to share your thoughts about AI 

Today is International Self-Care Day! 

In honour of self-care, this #ArthritisAtHome features the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Catherine Backman, Professor Emerita from the University of British Columbia (UBC). In her discussion with Cheryl Koehn, ACE’s Founder and President, Dr. Backman shares how occupational therapy, research, and finding the right splints and assisted devices can help people living with arthritis. Splints and assisted devices are an important part of self-care because they help reduce joint strain, minimize pain, enhance independence in daily tasks, and help maintains quality of life.

Arthritis Consumer Expert’s JointHealth™ Education program contains courses specific to self-care in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis. The self-care lesson will help you understand what you can and cannot control about your disease and the different elements of a self-care plan. Additionally, the lesson provides tips for self-care treatments at home.

Additional learning resource

• Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
• Telehealth and a joint-friendly workspace for people with arthritis
• Assisted Devices Resources
• Splint overview

In this #ArthritisAtHome, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Hani El-Gabalawy, Professor at the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Dr. El-Gabalawy has dedicated his research career to understanding the mechanisms intitiating and sustaining rheumatoid arthritis.

In his discussion with Cheryl Koehn, ACE’s Founder and President, Dr. El-Gabalawy shares updates in rheumatology, including care in Indigenous communities, diet, rheumatoid arthritis, comorbidities in arthritis, disease modifying medications for osteoarthritis, and artificial intelligence in care.

Additional learning resource

• Take the ACE National Survey on Artificial Intelligence and Arthritis Care to share your thoughts about AI 
• Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Has Changed Dramatically Over the Past 3 Decades, but Has the Disease Itself Changed? 
• Impact of Psychiatric Comorbidity on Health Care Use in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Population-Based Study 
• RheumNow Podcast : Weak Data with Dr. Charity Dean 

In this #ArthritisAtHome, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Liam O’Neil, Assistant Professor at the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. His research focuses on understanding the biological events that occur prior to the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). 

Dr. O’Neil discusses his study that looks at curcumin, omega-3, and vitamin D as a combination for preventing rheumatoid arthritis and explains why these three supplements were chosen. Dr. O’Neil’s study also showed improvements in joint pain, fatigue, and morning stiffness, even among health participants and he explains what this means for people who have early signs of RA or risk factors such as anti-citrullinated protein antibody positivity.

Additional learning resource

• Arthritis At Home – Food for thought : Healthy eating strategies for people living with arthritis with Kim Arrey
• The Impact of Rheumatoid Arthritis on First Nations and How We Work with Communities to Prevent It
• Safety and Tolerability of a Combination of Curcumin, Omega-3 and Vitamin-D: Results from the PASCOD Study, an RA Prevention Protocol

In this #ArthritisAtHome, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Ms. Lindsey Puddicombe, a medical student at Dalhousie University, about her “Clinical pearls and mysterious cases” presentation at this year’s Canadian Rheumatology Association’s (CRA) Annual Scientific Meeting. Lindsey speaks to Ellen Wang, ACE’s Programs Coordinator, about how diagnosing arthritis can be hard as there are many other diseases that share the same symptoms, such as myositis and amyloidosis. Lindsey also shares her work experience with the summer studentship at the CRA in 2025 and how her mentors have shaped her career path. 

Additional learning resource 

• The CRAF Summer Studentship Programs
• JointHealth™ insight – Mental health and arthritis : A complex relationship 
• Canadian Arthritis Trainee Association
• The Myositis Association : About Myositis
• Johns Hopkins Medicine : Amyloidosis

Lupus is a chronic disease that can happen in any part of the body, including the heart, brain, kidneys, skin and affects over 1 out of 1000 people in Canada. People with lupus can experience a butterfly rash on their face, kidney problems and even brain involvement such as seizures. These differences make diagnosing lupus challenging and, living with it, different for everyone.

Joining Kelly Lendvoy in today’s #ArthritisAtHome to talk about lupus are Leanne Mielczarek, Chief Executive Officer, and Heather Coates, National Fund Development and Engagement Officer, from Lupus Canada. The trio discuss more about lupus and about the Lupus International Congress that was recently held in Toronto.

Additional learning resources

• Lupus Canada
• Arthritis Consumer Experts’ About Lupus page 
• Lupus 2025 Abstracts
• Arthritis At Home 271 – Lupus and pregnancy in women in Alberta

Artificial intelligence (AI) is today being used in arthritis care to help doctors make diagnoses, suggest treatment options, predict symptom changes, or answer health questions through virtual assistants or chatbots (like ChatGPT). 

In this episode of Arthritis at Home, Cheryl Koehn and Kelly Lendvoy talk about the launch of ACE’s National Survey on Artificial Intelligence and Arthritis Care. They discuss the focus of the survey, looking at different types of AI being used to create content or give information – for example, answering your questions about arthritis in plain language or to look at health information to forecast what might happen next – like warning people about a possible flare or suggesting which medication might work best.

We encourage you to take the Survey and help ACE learn how familiar people with arthritis are with AI, how comfortable they feel using it, and what kinds of tools or information might help them.

Additional learning resources

• Take the survey now
• Print and post up this poster to share with your coworkers and patients
• #CRArthritis: Artificial intelligence scribing in rheumatology clinics
• AI.Dx Lab – McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health
• Learn more about ACE National Surveys

June is Pride Month – a time dedicated to celebrating 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities and their resilience, advocating for equal rights and a world free from fear, violence or discrimination. According to data from the 2019 to 2021 Canadian Community Health Survey, 1 in 10 youth aged 15 to 24 years reported being 2SLGBTQQIA+. Amongst this population, 3 in 10 considered their mental health to be fair or poor. For youths who also live with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, they may also experience physical disability and mental stress related to missing out on school activities and disease management – impacting their overall health.

In this #ArthritisAtHome, we are sharing the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Karine Toupin-April, Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences in the University of Ottawa. She discusses about a talk she presented at this year's Annual Scientific meeting called “How are determinants of health inequities related to decision-making in juvenile idiopathic arthritis care? A narrative synthesis.” Her research explores how factors like gender, culture, and socioeconomic status affect decision-making in JIA care and why is it important to consider these determinants when making treatment decisions. In her review of the research literature, her team found few studies directly linking health inequities to decision-making in JIA care. Dr. Toupin-April shares the potential consequences of not addressing these inequities in treatment planning. 

Are you satisfied with how you are receiving arthritis care? What changes would you like to see in your care journey? Please email us at [email protected] and let us know. 

Additional learning resource

• ACE National Survey on Arthritis and Health Inequities
• Facts, stats and impact : 2SLGBTQI+ communities
• The Choice Research Lab
• Tools and resources to facilitate the use of shared decision making (SDM) 

National Health and Fitness Day – an annual coast-to-coast celebration of wellness – is held on the first Saturday of June. To inspire you to be active on June 7, today’s Arthritis At Home will feature the #CRArthritis interview with Dr. Manuel Ester (Manny). 

Manny is a post-doctoral associate working with Dr. Claire Barber at the University of Calgary’s McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health. Manny shares highlights from a workshop he co-presented at the 2025 Canadiana Rheumatology Association’s Annual Scientific Meeting with Dr. Barber called “Moving More with Inflammatory Arthritis: The Benefits of Physical Activity and Strategies for Supporting Physical Activity Behaviour Change”. 

The key objective of the workshop was to provide arthritis health care professionals with evidence-based strategies to encourage and support people living with arthritis to become more physically active and ultimately improving their health and quality of life. Manny also shares with us some of the most effective behaviour change strategies that help people with inflammatory arthritis “move more” and sustain an active lifestyle over the long term, including motivation techniques, goal setting, and using technology to get started on exercise programs. 

Additional learning resource

• ACE Survey on Arthritis and Exercise
• JointHealth™ Education: Arthritis and Exercise
• Arthritis patient exercise program
• 2018 EULAR recommendations for physical activity in people with inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis
• Exercise Guide for arthritis health providers