Patient-centred management of inflammatory arthritis: MJA
GPs may be interested to read a Perspectives article in this week’s issue of Medical Journal of Australia discussing the importance of a patient-centred approach to management of inflammatory arthritis.
Authors of Patient-centred management of inflammatory arthritis: more than just disease control, write that great advances in management of inflammatory arthritis have significantly improved the disease control and outcomes. They state that the guidelines, whose algorithms focus on drug prescription to achieve remission of disease, support everyday treatment. They add, however, that while the guidelines provide direction for the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), they do not consider the patient’s broader health needs.
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To promote successful clinician-patient partnerships and shared decision making, the authors write that doctors need to understand patients’ priorities and perceived needs and deal with the areas where these do not align with current health care guidelines and policies.
The article considers the needs of people with inflammatory arthritis and proposes options to improve their situation.