This year we wanted to put a new spin on World Arthritis Day so we've done a big social media push for the launch of our latest report the Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Responsibility Deal.
For those of you who haven't seen it yet, the RA Responsibility Deal contains a series of practical pledges for different audiences - including patients, healthcare professionals, NHS service managers and policymakers – that if implemented can help to make a real difference to the clinical outcomes of the 690,000 RA patients that live with this chronic autoimmune disease in the UK.
We want to encourage as many people with a connection to this chronic autoimmune disease to sign it as possible. The Deal forms part of a longer-term campaign to help raise awareness of RA and to try to get more of our members and more of the public involved in campaigning for the cause.
To support awareness we have collaborated with some major political blogs to demonstrate how the pledges in the Responsibility Deal relate to very current issues with the NHS.
- This morning I blogged on PoliticsHome, the most influential political news network in the UK, about the impact of the health reforms on patient self-management: epolitix.com/latestnews/art...
- This lunchtime another blog appeared on Left Foot Forward, a very influential progressive, evidence-based blog, about the impact of the health reforms on patient involvement: leftfootforward.org/2012/10...
- And there is more to come, so please stay tuned during the course of today!
In addition to the blogs we have also been encouraging our members and the public to raise awareness of RA by changing their Facebook and Twitter profiles to the NRAS logo (and any other social networks people would like to express their support through).
On top of this we are launching a brand new e-campaigning function on our website to help promote the Responsibility Deal. This is the first time NRAS has done this and we hope it will allow members and the public to spread the word about this campaign much more easily.
But wait! There's more! To keep the campaign buzz going we will be launching further e-campaigning tools in the near future to encourage people to start contacting their local politicians (right across the UK) about the Responsibility Deal and encouraging them to sign-up and raise awareness of the disease.
It goes without saying that everyone at NRAS would be really grateful if you would please read the RA Responsibility Deal document and take a moment to sign the e-petition and pledge your support: nras.org.uk/responsibilitydeal Please follow the links at the bottom of the page to be directed to the e-petition.
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Early days...diagnosis:seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. Ready for some team - work! 
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