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About NAAP
Three national
agencies—the Arthritis Foundation, the Association of State and Territorial Health
Officials, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—recently joined
forces to lead an attack on the public health challenges of arthritis. The result of their
collaboration is the National Arthritis Action Plan (NAAP): A Public Health Strategy.
The plan represents a combined effort of nearly 90 organizations, including government
agencies, voluntary organizations, academic institutions, community interest groups,
professional associations, and others with an interest in arthritis prevention and
control.
The plan organizes the
use of our nation’s health resources to combat the greatest single cause of chronic
pain and disability among Americans, while increasing awareness—among the general
public, people with arthritis and their families, medical care providers, and policy
makers—of the impact of arthritis, what can be done to prevent or delay its onset,
and what effective interventions are available to reduce disability and improve the
quality of life of people with arthritis. We believe integrating the perspectives, values,
and resources of the public health and arthritis communities will allow us to lessen the
burden of arthritis on our citizens and our nation.
The National
Arthritis Action Plan (NAAP): A Public Health Strategy has six aims:
- Increase public
awareness of arthritis as the leading cause of disability and an important public health
problem
- Prevent arthritis
whenever possible
- Promote early diagnosis
and appropriate management for people with arthritis to ensure them the maximum number of
years of healthy life
- Minimize preventable
pain and disability due to arthritis
- Support people with
arthritis in developing and accessing the resources they need to cope with their disease
- Ensure that people with
arthritis receive the family, peer and community support they need
The plan takes a
public health approach, which means focusing on the impact of a disease on the whole
population and the concept of prevention across three levels:
primary, secondary and tertiary. For arthritis, prevention involves:
- primary prevention:
identifying factors that increase the risk of arthritis and intervening to reduce the
occurrence of arthritis;
- secondary
prevention: assuring early diagnosis of the type of arthritis and appropriate
management; and
- tertiary prevention:
utilizing interventions, including medical and self-management strategies, to limit the
pain, disability and other effects of the disease once it is established.
Public health also
emphasizes collaborative, community-based activities aimed at specific populations. A
public health approach includes influencing healthcare systems and providers, and policies
that support and can make a difference in reducing the occurrence and impact of diseases
and conditions.
To get involved in the
NAAP, contact your local chapter for information about activities and efforts in your area.
Advocacy
The National
Arthritis Action Plan (NAAP): A Public Health Strategy is the first comprehensive,
systematic public health approach to address arthritis nationally. Funding for NAAP
activities will come from multiple sources. While the Arthritis Foundation, CDC and other
partners are allocating existing resources to fund some strategies, it is hoped that new
federal, state and private funds will support other activities. In fact, the Arthritis
Foundation urged Congress to establish and fund the CDC Arthritis Program.
The Arthritis
Foundation has a longstanding role as the nation’s preeminent advocate for people
with arthritis and related conditions. Today, this responsibility permeates the Foundation
at all levels and locations and is an important element of the Foundation’s mission.
The role of advocacy
is increasingly critical for the Arthritis Foundation. The aging of the population and the
corresponding demands on the health system, competition for limited resources within
government and private sector programs, and a society that expects a direct role in
shaping health care delivery and policy are all factors that make advocacy more important
than ever.
The Arthritis
Foundation seeks volunteers to work on a variety of issues at the local, state and
national level. To become involved in advocacy to support NAAP activities, you can visit
the Foundation’s advocacy center or contact your local chapter.
Local
Activities and Resources
With the release of
the National Arthritis Action Plan (NAAP): A Public Health Strategy in November
1998, the Arthritis Foundation made a commitment to adopting a public health approach to
arthritis, emphasizing prevention and early diagnosis and appropriate management of
disease to prevent disability. This public health approach means that while the fight
against arthritis takes place a single person at a time, we are also fighting arthritis
across whole populations, reaching more people with our programs and services, ensuring
that more people can use our services and information.
But this shift in
perspective also brings challenges, and the recognition that the Arthritis Foundation
cannot possibly meet the challenge of arthritis alone. The combined leadership of the
Arthritis Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Association
of State and Territorial Health Officials was needed to get this plan ready for its
release in November 1998.
We’ve come a long
way since the official release of the Plan. Through the advocacy efforts of the
Arthritis Foundation, today CDC has its own Arthritis Program: a full-time team of public
health experts. The growth of CDC’s program signals a shift in perspective for public
health, from focusing on leading causes of death to seriously addressing leading causes of
disability and improving quality of life. Arthritis is now an established program area in
the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at CDC, taking its
place among the major chronic diseases being addressed by public health at the national
level.
Through the advocacy
efforts of the Arthritis Foundation, Congress voted a $10 million appropriation to CDC for
fiscal year 1999 to develop a national, public health program on arthritis. In April 1999,
CDC announced a "request for proposals" to fund arthritis programs in state
health departments. To help develop proposals and foster partnerships between Arthritis
Foundation chapters and public health, the Arthritis Foundation and CDC brought together
our chapters to meet with their state public health representatives.
For many states, the
"Building Partnerships to Address Arthritis" conference was the first time the
Arthritis Foundation and public health had ever met, but the response generated by this
meeting was incredible. CDC received 49 proposals to develop state and territorial public
health programs to reduce the burden of arthritis in America – an unprecedented
response to a new program from CDC.
For the Arthritis
Foundation, this enthusiastic response from states to CDC also meant unprecedented
opportunities for partnerships, since the request for proposals specifically encouraged
collaboration with Arthritis Foundation chapters in the development of new programs.
Through Congress’s appropriation to CDC, 38 states have received grants this year to
establish and develop arthritis programs and build partnerships with the Arthritis
Foundation and other organizations interested in arthritis. People with arthritis will
have increased access to arthritis programs; health professionals will be assured of more
accurate data collection to understand the patterns of arthritis in our population; and
all persons affected by or interested in arthritis will benefit from continuing,
sustainable commitment of time, energy and resources to preventing arthritis and the
disability associated with arthritis.
To
Learn and Do More
You can get involved
in NAAP activities in many ways. First, read the full
plan
If you’d like to
get involved in national advocacy efforts on behalf of people with arthritis, visit our Advocacy Center or check with your local
chapter about state and local activities.
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