Unique partnership provides innovative screening program for early detection and better management of arthritis
OTTAWA, Jan. 15, 2015 /CNW/ - The Arthritis Research Centre of Canada and its Scientific Director, Dr. John Esdaile, have received the 2014 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Partnership Award for developing, in collaboration with Arthritis Consumer Experts and Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix, an innovative screening program to help Canadians better prevent and manage arthritis. Through the Shoppers Drug Mart Arthritis Screening Program, these partners have shown how researchers, patients and the private sector can work together to provide health solutions to Canadians.
As part of the program, pharmacists at more than 1,200 Shoppers Drug Mart stores across Canada have provided arthritis screening and information to Canadians. To help detect the disease at an early stage, the program includes a self-administered joint exam and questionnaire. It also enables Canadians with arthritis to work with a pharmacist to monitor their symptoms and medication over time to prevent the disease from worsening. The Shoppers Drug Mart Arthritis Screening Program is the first and only program in Canada designed especially for women afflicted with arthritis. The disease affects two out of three or 2.8 million Canadian women.
The three partners developed the arthritis screening program following research undertaken at the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada that showed that an early intervention improved the quality of care and life for people who had osteoarthritis.
Quick Facts
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"Our Government is committed to supporting initiatives that improve the health and quality of life of Canadians who live with arthritis. We commend the partners of the Shoppers Drug Mart Arthritis Screening Program for joining forces to find solutions to a health issue that affects millions of people across the country."
Rona Ambrose
Minister of Health
"On behalf of CIHR, I congratulate the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada and its partners for their innovative efforts to make arthritis screening and management more accessible. We are pleased to have funded research that contributed to the development of this important program. This partnership clearly demonstrates how multiple organizations and individuals can come together for the benefit of Canadians."
Michel Perron
Vice-President, External Affairs and Business Development, CIHR
"The Arthritis Research Centre of Canada is honoured to receive the CIHR Partnership Award in recognition of our collaboration with Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix and the Arthritis Consumer Experts. Early diagnosis of arthritis is the key to slowing the progress of this disease. That's why Arthritis Consumer Experts President, Cheryl Koehn, invested enormous energy in developing the screening exam tool for pharmacists. We hope Canadians will get screened through this program thereby speeding access to the care they need to prevent arthritis and improve their health and quality of life."
Dr. John Esdaile
Scientific Director, Arthritis Research Centre of Canada
"Canada's more than 4.6 million arthritis consumers, who Arthritis Consumer Experts (ACE) represents, have benefited greatly from this collaboration between ACE, our scientific partners, the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada, and Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix. Together, we have created a best practice in Canada for arthritis screening, prevention and management at convenient pharmacy locations on main streets across Canada, right where Canadians with arthritis live and work. Arthritis Consumer Experts is proud to have played a co-leading role to enable Shoppers' pharmacists to share valuable arthritis information and detect or confirm arthritis with patients through innovative consumer education programs right at the pharmacy counter."
Cheryl Koehn
Founder and President, Arthritis Consumer Experts
"As one of Canada's most recognized and trusted health brands, Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix is engaged in partnership programs to develop patient-focused solutions delivering lower health care costs and better health outcomes. By partnering with the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada through our Shoppers Drug Mart WOMEN program, we created a tool on our website that helps Canadians with arthritis improve their quality of life. I want to thank CIHR for recognizing this partnership, which has provided a valuable resource for Canadians with arthritis."
Mike Motz
President, Shoppers Drug Mart
Associated Links
2014 CIHR Partnership Award
Ministerial Announcement - Health Minister Rona Ambrose Launches Innovative Arthritis Screening Program at Shoppers Drug Mart
Arthritis Research Centre of Canada
Shoppers Drug Mart
Arthritis Consumer Experts
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened health care system for Canadians. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 13,700 health researchers and trainees across Canada.
About the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada
The Arthritis Research Centre of Canada (ARC) is an international leader in medical research on Canada's most debilitating chronic disease. ARC conducts consumer-driven clinical research to help reduce the burden of arthritis, and give people with arthritis better, more timely, and cost-effective solutions for living with their disease. With research centres in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec, ARC's research is making a critical difference in arthritis diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, care outcomes and quality of life issues for millions of arthritis patients. www.arthritisresearch.ca.
About Arthritis Consumer Experts
Arthritis Consumer Experts (ACE) is a national organization that provides science-based information and education programs in both official languages to people with arthritis. ACE serves consumers living with all forms of arthritis by helping them take control of their disease and improve their quality of life. Founded and led by people with arthritis, ACE also actively advocates on arthritis health and policy issues, through ACE's JointHealth™ family of programs and the Arthritis Broadcast Network, directly to consumers/patients, healthcare professionals, media and government. ACE is guided by a strict set of guiding principles, set out by an advisory board comprised of leading scientists, medical professionals and informed arthritis activists.
Discover JointHealth™ online:
www.jointhealth.org
http://bit.ly/YouTubeJointHealth
http://www.facebook.com/ACEJointHealth
http://www.twitter.com/ACEJointHealth
About Shoppers Drug Mart
Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation is one of the most recognized and trusted names in Canadian retailing. The Company is the licensor of full-service retail drug stores operating under the name Shoppers Drug Mart (Pharmaprix in Québec). With more than 1,244 Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores operating in prime locations in each province and two territories, the Company is one of the most convenient retailers in Canada. The Company also licenses or owns 57 medical clinic pharmacies operating under the name Shoppers Simply Pharmacy (Pharmaprix Simplement Santé in Québec) and six luxury beauty destinations operating as Murale. As well, the Company owns and operates 62 Shoppers Home Health Care stores, making it the largest Canadian retailer of home health care products and services. In addition to its retail store network, the Company owns Shoppers Drug Mart Specialty Health Network Inc., a provider of specialty drug distribution, pharmacy and comprehensive patient support services, and MediSystem Technologies Inc., a provider of pharmaceutical products and services to longterm care facilities.
Dr. John Esdaile and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada
2014 CIHR Partnership Award Recipients
CIHR is presenting Dr. John Esdaile and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada/Arthrite-recherche Canada (ARC) with its annual Partnership Award in recognition of their efforts to make arthritis screening and management more accessible to Canadians.
ARC works to support and apply research to improve arthritis diagnosis and care. The Centre has grown from four people when it was founded in 2000, to more than 60 people today at centres in Vancouver, Calgary and Quebec City.
In a national partnership with the Arthritis Consumer Experts and Shoppers Drug Mart/ Pharmaprix, ARC developed an arthritis awareness campaign that offers free arthritis prevention, screening and treatment information provided by pharmacists at more than 1,200 Shoppers stores across Canada. The program includes a self-administered joint exam, an interactive joint exam and a questionnaire. Launched in September of 2013, this screening program is helping Canadians obtain earlier diagnoses and better manage their arthritis. It is also the first and only arthritis screening program in Canada designed with woman in mind, as arthritis affects two out of three Canadian women.
Dr. John Esdaile is an internationally respected rheumatologist who has served as Head of Rheumatology at McGill University and the University of British Columbia. His areas of research interest include rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. He has focused on early diagnosis and early intervention as key elements of improving patient outcomes. Dedicated to expanding Canada's role in arthritis research, Dr. Esdaile is largely responsible for establishing ARC, where he serves as Scientific Director.
The CIHR Partnership Award recognizes partnerships with one or more external partners from the private, voluntary or public sectors which exemplify excellence by bringing health research communities together to create innovative approaches to research questions; to develop research agendas that are responsive to the health needs, concerns and priorities of Canadians; and to accelerate the translation of knowledge for the benefit of Canadians.
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SOURCE Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Image with caption: "Dr. John Esdaile and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada 2014 CIHR Partnership Award Recipients. (CNW Group/Canadian Institutes of Health Research)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150115_C8734_PHOTO_EN_10246.jpg
Media Relations, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 613-941-4563, [email protected]
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