{"id":24,"date":"2014-05-06T11:29:55","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T11:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/promotions.bmj.com\/ardsummaries\/?p=24"},"modified":"2014-05-06T11:29:55","modified_gmt":"2014-05-06T11:29:55","slug":"standards-of-care-for-people-with-rheumatoid-arthritis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/rheumsummaries\/2014\/05\/06\/standards-of-care-for-people-with-rheumatoid-arthritis\/","title":{"rendered":"Standards of care for people with rheumatoid arthritis"},"content":{"rendered":"

INTRODUCTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patients and experts have worked together to produce standards of care for people in Europe who have\u00a0rheumatoid arthritis. They hope that this means everyone with rheumatoid arthritis will get the best possible\u00a0treatment from their doctors, nurses, and healthcare services, no matter where they live.<\/p>\n

WHAT DO WE KNOW ALREADY?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most countries have their own guidelines or recommendations about how to treat various diseases and conditions.
\nIn England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)\u00a0set guidelines for rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions. The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network\u00a0(SIGN) set guidelines in Scotland, and there are also recommendations made by groups of specialist doctors,
\nsupport groups, and charities.<\/p>\n


\nGuidelines set out things such as the tests doctors should use to find out if a person has a particular condition,\u00a0what treatments work best, and who should get which treatments. But spreading the recommendations in\u00a0guidelines can take time. So people in different areas may still ending being treated differently. And, while
\nguidelines are useful, they often don\u2019t say what kind of support people should get or what people with a particular\u00a0condition should know about their care.\u00a0This report explains how rheumatology experts created a set of recommendations to support people with\u00a0rheumatoid arthritis across Europe.<\/p>\n

WHAT DOES THE NEW STUDY SAY?<\/strong><\/p>\n

An expert group of patients and doctors reviewed all the guidelines on rheumatoid arthritis from 44 European\u00a0countries. They then agreed on 16 recommendations they considered most important for patients. These \u2018standards\u00a0of care\u2019 set out exactly how people with rheumatoid arthritis can learn more about their condition, ways
\nthat they can care for themselves, and what to expect from healthcare services and healthcare professionals.<\/p>\n

For example, everyone with rheumatoid arthritis should expect:<\/p>\n