2009 Annual Report - Arthritis Foundation

Public Health cont...
Sing the Foundation to Reduce the Burden Arthritis
2009 National Juvenile Arthritis Conference - Houston, TX
2009 Juvenile Arthritis Family Day - Tulsa, OK
e South Texas Division welcomed the National Juvenile Arthritis
Conference in Houston and the Eastern Oklahoma Chapter hosted the
Juvenile Arthritis Family Day in Tulsa in 2009. ese signicant events
helped impact the lives of hundreds of families through education and
inspiration.
We continue our support of national public health initiatives on the local level,
helping those who desperately need to take control of their arthritis. e Texans
and Oklahomans we reach through these programs, and provide with information
and self-management strategies, have a better perspective on their disease and, in
turn, better outcomes.
In 2009, we continued to develop partnerships and initiatives to improve the health
of millions of Texans and Oklahomans with arthritis. We work to prevent arthritis
by educating people therefore helping them:
• Modify their risk factors
• Reduce the impact of arthritis through early detection and treatment
• Delay/eliminate the onset of disability by minimizing the consequences of
arthritis.
Increasing Our Reach
e Arthritis Foundation South Central Region has helped fund a range of
initiatives including:
• Increasing the number of Life Improvement Series programs oered in Texas
and in communities throughout central and eastern Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, the
Arthritis Foundation is also working with the Chickasaw Nation to bring the Life
Improvement Series to this important local constituency.
• Supporting academic institutions to research the safety and health benets of
new evidence-based programs, such as the Arthritis Foundation Tai Chi Program,
to help people with arthritis improve their mobility and strength, which may
decrease falls that result in hip fractures.
• Supporting research to develop two screening tools for people with joint pain –
one to help people identify their risk for osteoarthritis and the lower severity, and
the other to help primary care physicians identify people with early inammatory
arthritis.
• Promoting the need for early diagnosis and treatment of inammatory arthritis
through the Arthritis Foundation’s Inammatory Arthritis Initiative, to facilitate
early diagnosis and treatment of people with forms of inammatory arthritis,
ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis.
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