Co-Design of a Disease Activity Based Self-Management Approach for Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Patient Self-Management
• Health Intervention Development

Background:

• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) management in daily practice often faces challenges related to patient-level barriers.
• Effective disease activity-based management requires patient engagement and understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically develop an intervention for improving disease activity-based management of RA.
• To address patient-level barriers in the daily clinical practice of rheumatoid arthritis.

Main Methods:

• A step-wise, co-design approach involving all stakeholders was used.
• The intervention development focused on identifying and addressing patient-level barriers to RA management based on disease activity.
• Patient-level barriers were central to the self-management strategy's design.

Main Results:

• The developed DAS-pass strategy provides decision support and guidance from a specialized rheumatology nurse.
• It aims to enhance patient knowledge of the Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28), improve medication beliefs, and empower patients in disease management.
• Components include an informational leaflet, a patient-held record, and individualized nurse support.

Conclusions:

• Stakeholders found the DAS-pass strategy helpful for improving daily RA clinical practice.
• The systematic methodology can be applied to enhance patient knowledge and self-management in other RA-related areas and chronic conditions.
• A detailed description of the methodology is provided to aid in developing evidence-based patient education and empowerment strategies.