Impact Of A Structured Emotional Well-Being Workshop On Psychological Outcomes And Patient Activation In Rheumatoid
Marta Novella-Navarro1, Jose M Iniesta-Chamorro2, María Pavo-Blanco3
1Rheumatology Department, University Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain.
Background:
Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA), frequently experience psychological distress and reduced well-being despite adequate control of inflammation with biological or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs). Psychosocial interventions may improve emotional health and self-management, although evidence within routine multidisciplinary care remains limited. This study evaluated the impact of a structured emotional well-being workshop on psychological outcomes and patient activation in RA and SpA.
Methods:
We conducted a pilot study including patients with RA or SpA receiving b/tsDMARDs. Patients were invited to attend a structured emotional well-being workshop consisting of an initial face-to-face session, an eight-week online program, and a final face-to-face session. Psychological outcomes were assessed before and after the intervention using the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the Patient Activation Measure (PAM-13). Clinical outcomes included disease activity indices, physician global assessment (PhGA), patient global assessment (PGA), and pain visual analogue scale (VAS).
Results:
Twenty-one patients participated. After the intervention, significant improvements were observed in PhGA and pain VAS. The frequency of moderate-to-high well-being increased from 71.4% to 95.2%, while high psychological distress decreased from 76.2% to 14.3%. Patient activation also improved, level of self-management was high in 71.4% of cases, with this percentage rising to 81.0%.
Conclusion:
In this pilot study, a structured emotional well-being workshop integrated into multidisciplinary care was associated with improved psychological well-being and patient activation in patients with RA and SpA. These findings suggest the potential value of incorporating psychosocial interventions into routine rheumatology care, although confirmation in larger controlled trials is needed.