2023-09-26 08:49:05
For people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, or spondyloarthritis, everyday activities can be difficult. For this reason, the ConArtritis Association has launched the “Let’s talk without rigidity” campaign to help patients improve their sexual lives.
Image courtesy of ConArtritis
A total of 87% of people surveyed by ConArtritis who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis or spondyloarthritis, state that these diseases have made it difficult for them to have normal sexual relations.
To this end, the ConArtritis Association has launched a campaign called “Let’s talk without rigidity” aimed at trying to improve sexuality in arthritis patients.
The main barriers that these pathologies present when it comes to living a full sexual life are pain, stiffness and lack of self-esteem derived from these complications. This also prevents these people from wanting to establish romantic relationships.
In an interview given to EFESalud, the professionals from ConArtritis explain the initiative, which will run until December.
Image courtesy of ConArtritis
The project
The “Let’s talk without rigidity” project will be divided into different informative publications on social networks. Workshops will also be held, with the help of professionals from other areas of health, such as sexology, and a podcast which began on September 20.
Thus, the association’s experts recall that they want to listen to the needs of the public, of the people who suffer from these pathologies, and modify their script as trends are seen.
“It is a matter of adapting little by little to the needs of the public,” says Sandra Bernal, head of communications at ConArtritis.
Likewise, the initiative is part of the “Thinking of you” program.
Various groups
The various training workshops on topics related to sexuality in arthritis will be carried out by sex groups. On the one hand, women and on the other, men.
The reason for this division is so that people can speak openly, creating a space of trust in which patients can open up and share their concerns.
Thus, in addition to advising and helping them, they will be allowed to create links among themselves, say the experts.
Who is it addressed to?
The campaign is aimed at patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis or spondyloarthritis.
The association’s experts remember that juvenile idiopathic arthritis is not a disease that only affects the youngest, but has a wider age range.
In addition to wanting to improve the quality of life of patients, the campaign wants to “close information gaps” and help alleviate the lack of knowledge that exists among the population about these diseases. Above all, it is relevant that the consequences of these pathologies are known.
“Everyone has the image that these diseases affect older people who are 50, 60 or 70 years old, but they can really appear much earlier. And this part must be taken care of at any age, but when you are young it affects in a different way,” explains Laly Alcaide, national coordinator of ConArtritis.
Living with these diseases
The ultimate objective of the association is not so much to support the patient from a medical point of view, but rather to accompany them in their day-to-day concerns.
It is important for them, as Sandra Bernal indicates, to know that someone supports them in everyday things and in problems that do not directly affect the disease.
Therefore, this sexuality in arthritis campaign directly affects the needs of patients.
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