St. John?s works with state on arthritis study

St. John's Health System is the lead agency for a collaborative effort to study and improve clinical care for arthritis in primary health-care settings.

According to a press release from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Missouri received a Centers for Disease Control and Preven-tion grant for the pilot Quality Improve-ment Project, started in October.

For the project, the department's Mis-souri Arthritis and Osteoporosis Pro-gram, the Western Chapter of the Arth-ritis Foundation and St. John's are working together in a collaborative effort. The goal is to discover improvements in clinical, functional and quality-of-life outcomes for patients with arthritis.

Areas of emphasis include:

Assistance Arthritis is expensive, and because affected individuals may have a limited ability to work, they may need assistance to perform daily activities and require a higher level of care to maintain quality of life.

Treatment Treatment now focuses on prescription medication, but the partners will use the project to illustrate that more emphasis should be placed on education, diet and exercise.

Risk Society is growing older and living longer. As individuals age, they are at increased risk for arthritis.