Working With Your Health Care Team
Women living with arthritis spend a great deal of time with health professionals: Family Physician, Rheumatologist, Pharmacist, Physiotherapist, or Dietician. Women should think of themselves as the manager of their treatment plan and the person who decides which professionals they want on their arthritis health care team. Once you have begun to build your health care team, with referrals to professionals like Rheumatologists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, and/or Orthopedic Surgeons, there are steps you can take to make the most out of the time you spend with the members of your team.
Your Pharmaprix Pharmacist
Your Pharmacist can play an important role answering questions you may have about your arthritis self-assessment, and referring you to the appropriate health care provider if more information or treatment is needed. Your Pharmaprix Pharmacist is also well informed about the medication therapies in their store, how to use them, what to monitor, their effectiveness and side effects. They can also answer many non-medication related questions and steer you toward using the right non-medication therapies.
Arthritis Resources in the Community
A diagnosis of arthritis can leave women wanting more information. Understandably, many women head straight from their Doctor's office to the library, bookstore or home to search the Internet. To assist you in your search for trustworthy, up-to-date information, here are some of the most trusted resources on arthritis:
Arthritis Consumer Experts
jointhealth.org
Arthritis Broadcast Network
arthritisbroadcastnetwork.org
Arthritis Research Centre of Canada
arthritisresearch.ca
Arthritis Alliance of Canada
arthritisalliance.ca