title: Patient advocacy and arthritis: moving forward.
abstract: Patient advocacy is based on the premise that people have the right to make their own choices about their health care. Personal advocacy is centred on the experiential expertise of the individual affected by the condition, whereas group advocacy is grounded on patient-centred strategies and actions. The first patient advocacy groups for arthritis were set up over 20 years ago in the USA and have subsequently spread to many other countries. This paper discusses the growth and impact of personal advocacy as well as recent developments in group advocacy in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and North America, in terms of arthritis awareness, research, corporate partnerships, and the Bone and Joint Decade global initiative.
authors.affiliation: Healthy Motivation, Daly City, CA 94015, USA. amyeleong@aol.com
authors.forename: Amye L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.forename: Liana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Euller-Ziegler
mesh_terms: D001168:Arthritis / Q000628:therapy*; D001315:Australia; D004501:Education, Medical; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D009656:North America; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000639:trends*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010358:Patient Participation; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000639:trends*; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D016730:Program Development; D012648:Self Care; D013019:South Africa