FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Missouri Arthritis and Osteoporosis Program June 29, 2016 (888) 702-8818
Working Together to Improve Lives of Missourians with Chronic Conditions
Americans are living longer. People with chronic (continue or recur again over a long amount of time) health conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease, are also living and working longer. Community partners can help improve quality of life in the later years for these people.
Impact in Missouri: Over 1.3 million Missourians are impacted by arthritis alone! Missouri’s greatest population centers are in the St. Louis metropolitan area, Kansas City, and Springfield. In 2014, the arthritis prevalence (number of all people who had been told by a doctor they had arthritis) rate was:
Many Missourians with arthritis are also impacted by diabetes and heart disease, and over half of Missourians have more than one chronic health condition.
Help Lessen the Impact: Chronic conditions don’t just impact one aspect of a person’s health. Quality of life, difficulty performing daily activities, and workplace productivity can all be impacted by one or more chronic conditions. The Missouri Arthritis and Osteoporosis Program partners with organizations, employers, and health care entities to help provide programs for people with chronic conditions. Self-management and physical activity courses can help improve quality of life and reduce the number of sick days. These classes can also help reduce the need for health care and therefore health care costs.
According to the May 20th CDC MMWR, ‘Prevalence of Doctor-Diagnosed Arthritis at State and County Levels – United States, 2014’, making self-management education and appropriate physical activity interventions a priority are “effective ways to improve health outcomes”. Established programs offered in Missouri through Regional Arthritis Centers (RACs) include both group and individual classes as well as courses in Spanish:
- Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (English, group, self-management)
- Tomando Control de su Salud (Spanish, group, self-management)
- Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program (English, group, physical activity)
- Walk With Ease (English, group and independent; Spanish, independent, physical activity)
- The Arthritis Toolkit (English, independent, self-management)
RACs also coordinate referrals with community partners to other self-management and physical activity programs, including the Diabetes Self-Management Program and Enhance Fitness. All of these programs are proven to reduce the negative effects associated with arthritis (e.g. pain, depression) and other chronic conditions (e.g. heart disease, diabetes).
To discuss partnership opportunities to help your community manage arthritis and other chronic conditions, please visit the Missouri Arthritis and Osteoporosis Program website, www.moarthritis.org, or by calling 1-888-702-8818.
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Missouri Arthritis and Osteoporosis Program
[email protected]