Online learning for today’s arthritis patient
JointHealthTM Education - Arthritis and Mental Health Lesson Plan
Arthritis, like other chronic diseases and conditions, can have an impact on a person’s mental health. Dealing with the daily grind of joint pain, lost sleep, anxiety about the disease and reduced mobility can at times be overwhelming, but knowing that mental health challenges may arise and having a plan to deal with them in real time can help reduce the impact. Knowing what the research says about arthritis and mental health and developing strategies to help support it is very important for overall quality of life when you have arthritis. Here are researched facts that help explain what’s going on.
For example, some medications used to treat arthritis (such as steroids, methotrexate, hydroxychloroquine, sulfasalazine, and opioids) can also impact mental health. 1 In general, people with arthritis are more likely to experience symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety and “brain fog” than the general population. 1 These disorders may intensify symptoms like pain and fatigue, and make arthritis symptoms more difficult to manage, which leads to poorer health-related quality of life. 1
Arthritis Research Canada reports that up to 70% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience anxiety and up to 38% experience depression; up to 40% of lupus patients experience anxiety; and 30% experience depression.1,2 In their first year of living with RA, those who experience more anxiety and depression also experience higher levels of RA disease activity.3
Lesson 5
In a recent Arthritis Consumer Experts (ACE) National Survey on Arthritis and Mental Health, survey respondents reported how depression and anxiety impacted their day to day lives and their arthritis. 4Respondents spoke about finding themselves in a negative cycle of pain, poor health, and negative mood, which led to lifestyle changes such as engaging less in physical or social activity, having less confidence in (and perhaps adherence to) their arthritis medications, and feeling less motivated to maintain a healthy diet.
Building on these findings and in consultation with mental health professionals, ACE has developed JointHealthTM Education – Arthritis and Mental Health – a comprehensive online course designed to empower individuals with arthritis with strategies that support mental well-being and can help improve access to timely, professional care. By implementing the evidence-based strategies in the lessons and developing a better understanding of how to assess and care for your emotional well-being, you are taking an important step towards prioritizing and strengthening your mental health and emotional resilience.
The Lesson and Lesson Coaching Videos are available for viewing at your own pace. Videos are available in English with French. Closed caption is available for all the Lesson Coaching Videos. To activate closed caption, view the video in full screen. Click on the subtitles icon (
) at the bottom right corner of each video to activate the English closed caption. To auto-translate the English closed caption, click on the setting icon (
) at the bottom right corner of each video, select “subtitles/CC”, select “auto- translate” and then select a language of your choice. In the event of inaccuracies in the automatically generated translation, the content in the original English video is the official video.
Begin your course by selecting Lesson 1. We hope you enjoy JointHealthTM Education – Arthritis and Mental Health.
References
- Arthritis Research Canada. (2021). Arthritis & mental health: It’s complicated. https://www.arthritisresearch.ca/understanding-rheumatoid-arthritis-and-mental-health/
- De Vera, M. A., Geng, Y., Choi, A., Lee, C., Collins, B. C., & Lynd, L. D. (2020). Impact of arthritis on the perceived need and use of mental healthcare among Canadians with mental disorders: Nationally representative cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 10(12), e041371. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041371
- Matcham, F., Rayner, L., Steer, S., & Hotopf, M. (2014). The prevalence of depression in rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Rheumatology, 53(3), 578–588. https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/ket169
- Arthritis Consumer Experts. (2022). National survey report on arthritis and mental health. JointHealth™ insight. https://jointhealth.org/programs-jhinsight-view.cfm?id=1283&locale=en-CA