Battling Against a Cruel Condition

By HOLLY POYNTON

Arthritis Care’s latest campaign, People Like Us, highlights the problems people with the condition confront in the home around town and in the workplace. HOLLY POYNTON talks to three people in the region about their experiences

UNSCREWING the lid of a coffee jar, wearing fashionable shoes, opening the front door, getting dressed, putting on make-up, playing schoolyard footy – these are just some of the simple everyday activities which require marathon effort from many British men, women and children who wage a daily battle with arthritis.

Which is why Arthritis Care has launched a campaign, People Like Us, to highlight the struggles people face every day.

It has also issued a challenge to British industry – design products which suit us if you value the custom of people with arthritis in one of its 200 forms.

As part of the campaign, 13 people with arthritis have made intimate video diaries showing how their lives are hindered and impeded by everyday hurdles which those without arthritis rarely think about – opening milk cartons, jumping on a bus, lifting a child.

Arthritis Care spokesman Jane Spence says: ‘The nine million Britons with arthritis are citizens and consumers, yet these diaries reveal their life is an obstacle course, full of large and small hurdles to be negotiated in the home and the workplace.

“What’s more, it’s hard to buy good clothes or sexy shoes because the range is so limited. We want designers, employers and planners to take action and think more creatively about making products that work for everyone, including us. After all, we’re big spenders and the ‘arthritis pound’ is worth a bob or two.

She explained: ‘These diaries explode the stereotype that arthritis is just about minor aches, or getting older. People with arthritis are babies, teens, elderly people and every age in between.

‘They’re soccer fans, shoe-lovers, coffee drinkers, students, fathers, cyclists, girlfriends, workers, mothers. They’re people like us, and these diaries show it. Their stories are keen insights into the lives of nine million Britons who face serious pain, but still get on with life”.

(c) 2007 Evening Chronicle – Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.