What to know
- Encourage patients with arthritis to take an active role in their health to improve symptoms and delay arthritis progression.
- Self-management for arthritis can be helpful for co-occurring conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
Overview
It's important to work with your patients to create management plans that are right for them. Some patients with arthritis may prefer managing their symptoms without medications or in combination with medications.
Effective strategies that you can encourage for arthritis self-management that don't require medications:
- Being physically active.
- Keeping a healthy weight.
- Learning skills to manage arthritis on their own and improve quality of life.
- Protecting joints from injury.
Keep reading to learn more about resources available to help your patients get started.
Encourage physical activity
Joint-friendly physical activity can improve pain, function, mood, and quality of life for people with arthritis. Being physically active can also delay the onset of arthritis-related disability and help patients manage other chronic conditions.
Help your patients with arthritis get started on a joint-friendly physical activity plan
Counseling
- Educate patients about physical activity and arthritis, including:
- How physical activity can help manage arthritis symptoms and overall health.
- How much activity is recommended per week.
- Joint-friendly physical activities for people with arthritis.
- How physical activity can help manage arthritis symptoms and overall health.
- Discuss how they can overcome barriers to physical activity.
- Bookmark this list of provider resources for physical activity screening, counseling, and referrals, which includes:
- Tips for patient-provider communication.
- Continuing education opportunities.
- Information on billing codes.
- Tips for patient-provider communication.
Only about half of adults with arthritis report ever getting counseled about physical activity by a provider.123
Among patients who do receive provider counseling, the most common topics discussed include:1
· How much physical activity they do (75%).
· What types of physical activity they should do (50%).
Referral
- Refer patients to physical therapy or occupational therapy for recommendations that are tailored to them.
- Refer patients to CDC-recognized physical activity programs that help people with arthritis safely add physical activity to their daily lives.
- These programs are available throughout local U.S. communities. Some are also offered remotely.
- These programs are available throughout local U.S. communities. Some are also offered remotely.
Need for increased referrals to physical activity programs
Despite their effectiveness, less than 5% of patients with arthritis who receive provider counseling are referred to physical activity programs.1
Encourage weight management
Maintaining a healthy weight can slow progression or help manage the symptoms of several types of arthritis. For adults who have overweight or obesity, even a small amount of weight loss can help lower arthritis-related pain and disability.
Patients who receive weight counseling from a health care professional are more likely to attempt weight loss than those who don't.24
- Suggest patients use the MyPlate Plan tool to calculate personalized daily calorie recommendations for reaching or keeping a healthy weight.
- The tool also recommends daily amounts of fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, and grains to promote a balanced, nutritious diet.
- The tool also recommends daily amounts of fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, and grains to promote a balanced, nutritious diet.
- Remind patients that physical activity has multiple benefits including improving arthritis pain and function, maintaining muscle mass during weight loss, and maintaining weight loss for the long term.
- Encourage patients to get sufficient sleep and to find healthy ways to manage stress, since sleep and stress can affect weight.
- Share the Arthritis Foundation's weight management resources for more tips on managing weight with arthritis.
- Have patients visit About Healthy Weight and Growth for more information including steps for losing weight, healthy eating, and the role of physical activity in maintaining weight.
Encourage self-management education workshops
Self-management education workshops can help patients gain skills, knowledge, and confidence in caring for their health. The workshops guide people in making healthy lifestyle changes to improve their symptoms and quality of life.
Refer patients to workshops that have been recognized by CDC as arthritis-appropriate, evidence-based interventions.
- These workshops can benefit patients with multiple chronic conditions, in addition to arthritis.
- These workshops are available throughout local U.S. communities. Some are also offered remotely.
Encourage joint injury protection
Joint injuries can cause or worsen arthritis. This is especially true for osteoarthritis.
- Doing sports or jobs that have repetitive motions, such as repeated knee bending, may put people at higher risk for osteoarthritis.
Encourage your patients to take steps to prevent or minimize joint injuries.
- Counsel patients on low-impact physical activities they can do that are easy on their joints like walking, bicycling, and swimming.
- Low-impact activities have a low risk of injury and do not twist or put too much stress on the joints.
- Patients can check out these 11 Exercise Tips to Support Your Joints for additional advice on getting active with arthritis.
- Low-impact activities have a low risk of injury and do not twist or put too much stress on the joints.
- Advise them to wear protective gear as appropriate when doing sports and to wear a seat belt to reduce injuries from vehicle crashes.
- There are also Self-Help Arthritis Devices (assistive devices) that can be used to make daily tasks easier on the joints.
- There are also Self-Help Arthritis Devices (assistive devices) that can be used to make daily tasks easier on the joints.
- Share resources with tips on how to prevent joint injuries at work, in sports, and from falls:
- Fallon EA, Foster A, Boring M, Brown D, Odom, E. Arthritis management: Patient-reported health care provider screening, counseling, and recommendations for physical activity. Prev Chronic Dis. 2024;21:240074. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd21.240074
- Greaney ML, Cohen SA, Xu F, et al. Healthcare provider counselling for weight management behaviours among adults with overweight or obesity: a cross-sectional analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011–2018. BMJ Open 2020;10:e039295. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039295
- United States Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2030: Increase the proportion of adults with arthritis who get counseling for physical activity (A 04) 2020. Accessed October 17, 2024. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/arthritis/increase-proportion-adults-arthritis-who-get-counseling-physical-activity-04
- Rose SA, Poynter PS, Anderson JW, Noar SM, Conigliaro J. Physician weight loss advice and patient weight loss behavior change: a literature review and meta-analysis of survey data. Int J Obes 2013;37:118–28. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.24