Healthcare professionals: Discover our Online Community for people with arthritis

Are you a healthcare professional who wants to offer your patients more support with their musculoskeletal condition? Why not introduce them to our online community?

We provide peer-to-peer support on our online community for people with arthritis over 18 years old to chat about issues that affect them, and to exchange and request information from us and each other. 

It is a safe space for when they are unable to talk to family and friends about the persistent problems that arthritis brings. We’re there and we understand.

From when we started, we now have nearly 16,000 registered members, and about 600 are active every month. People come back when they need support. 

Members view about 28,000 pages each month on the Community, and another 50,000 pages are viewed by unregistered guests.

Discover our online community

On the Community, members can swap information about how they cope with arthritis every day and how they overcome their challenges. 

Often, when first diagnosed, an arthritis sufferer can feel isolated, alone and wondering “Why me?”.  They can only see that their life is not going to be the same, and they know there is no cure. 

Many feel depressed and feel they have no one to talk to.  Then they join the Community and find a whole group of like-minded people who know what it’s like and who share their experiences and tips on how they manage their condition. Our members take comfort in this.

Many people join us to find out from others if their symptoms are unusual or common, or what side-effects may be expected from treatments.  This can be incredibly useful – the community is a great place to gather vital information and opinions. 

When members ask specific medical questions, moderators may refer them to specific articles on our website. We never offer any medical opinion and ensure that others don’t either. We encourage them to seek medical advice. 

The community is moderated by a wonderful team of volunteers, who read every post. One of the most important things that our moderators do is make sure that every member receives a warm welcome, and relevant information about their arthritis.

The Community has grown massively, and we have a regular influx of about 300 extra members every month.

Unsurprisingly, many people seek us out when they’re first diagnosed, or when they have a crisis, but many stick with us because they find that arthritis so dominates their life that they need to share how they feel and how to cope.  It’s a valuable Community that we hope more people will get to know about.

Please consider signposting your patients to our online community.