People with arthritis and their families in rehabilitation, care and research.
OBJECTIVE
People with arthritis play major roles in treatment and research. This review summarises the current knowledge on tools for enhancing shared-decision making in arthritis care; individual and family involvement in rehabilitation; and the consumer's role in arthritis research.


RESULTS
There are discrepancies in the use of appropriate arthritis treatment. To facilitate evidence-informed treatment choices, a number of decision aids have been developed. A recent systematic review concluded that decision aids could improve the shared-decision making process in a variety of diseases; but only one clinical trial was found on a musculoskeletal condition (back surgery). The evidence on family member participation in arthritis education programs is mixed, partly due to a lack of content specifically targeting family members in some studies. Finally, people with arthritis are playing important roles as collaborators in research. Early experience indicates a mutually beneficial relationship for both the individual and researchers.


CONCLUSIONS
This review offers three recommendations: First, further clinical trials are needed to test the effectiveness of decision aids in arthritis management. Second, education programs involving strong social support training for family members may improve client outcomes. Third, we encourage further studies to examine the experiences and challenges of people living with arthritis when participating as research partners.
Li
Linda C
LC
University of British Columbia, Arthritis Research Centre of Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. lli@arthritisresearch.ca
Koehn
Cheryl
C
Lehman
Allen J
AJ
D001168:Arthritis / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making; D005195:Family Relations; D006805:Human Experimentation; D006801:Humans; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010358:Patient Participation; D012106:Research