News Snippets from Arthritis New Zealand

Notice of AGM

The Arthritis New Zealand Annual General Meeting will be held on 27 November 2021 at 11.30. Event and/or Zoom link details will be communicated closer to the time.

Māori and Pacific

As part of our strategic planning, one objective is to be a catalyst of change in developing programmes focusing on equity, specifically Māori and Pacific Island communities. This year, the Health Advice Manager and community coordinators have been busy meeting with various stakeholders across the country. The discussions focus on how health providers can work with Arthritis New Zealand to deliver effective strategies for gout arthritis management and make inroads in working together with other health charities to provide targeted education and health promotion to communities that need it.

Market Research

Arthritis New Zealand commissioned Research New Zealand to undertake market research to show us the general public’s level of understanding of arthritis and its awareness, knowledge and perceptions of Arthritis New Zealand. 71% of respondents were aware of Arthritis New Zealand. Most respondents saw us as providing much-needed services and support. Overall respondents would approach a health professional initially for information and advice about arthritis with Arthritis New Zealand in second place - a very encouraging result that also shows the need for us to work closely with health professionals. Only 15% of those who were aware of Arthritis New Zealand said they had high knowledge of our services and only a small number had made a donation, showing us that we need to focus on communication of the services we provide.

OA Basecamp

Over 80 health researchers, funders and representatives from primary, secondary and tertiary care services attended the 2021 OA (Osteoarthritis) Basecamp at the University of Auckland in July. Attendees heard addresses and presentations on the management of osteoarthritis from local and international speakers. Topics included a summary of the Ministry of Health’s Mobility Action Plan programme, new initiatives in OA clinical research, hip and knee replacements in indigenous populations, and community-based initiatives in the Bay of Plenty and Canterbury regions. Dr Richard Griffiths, Research Manager at Arthritis New Zealand launched our complete online guide to Osteoarthritis (OA) MyJointPain.co.nz. The focus of the event was a set of workshops to start co-designing a National Osteoarthritis Strategy. While the creation of this New Zealand OA Strategy will continue over the coming year, a follow up event is planned for mid-2022.

Pain Survey Results

We ran an online survey to collect people’s experience of pain to help us develop more resources to help people manage pain. More than half of the 147 respondents say they always experience pain, and more than 40% say they experience pain often. Less than half say they sometimes manage their pain effectively. Very few have it properly under control (4,76%). The types of pain that most people experience include dull to severe aches, burning, throbbing, grinding, stabbing, pinching and sharp pain. Many people describe stiffness and tightness as a type of pain too. Others describe the pain as “sandpaper” and “shards of broken glass”.