ACR’s Simple Tasks Campaign Gains Ground in Washington, D.C.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, Latimer says, and these types of sessions will be an ongoing tactic for promoting the campaign at professional meetings. In addition to the meetings at which Simple Tasks has an established presence, the campaign has begun expanding to other groups, such as the American Academy of Physician Assistants and to the Association of American Indian Physicians.

These electronic gloves simulate arthritis’s effects on simple tasks, like pouring coffee.

The Road Ahead

Simple Tasks is hopping “across the pond,” as they say, as of October 2013. This expansion is via the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR), which is collaborating with the ACR to launch its version of the campaign during World Arthritis Week. The benefit in the United States won’t be direct, necessarily, Dr. Ruderman says, but “it translates into a benefit to rheumatology in general by increasing global awareness of the importance of what we do.”

Another next step is to more directly involve patients with outreach efforts. That’s where the CMC hopes to see the campaign move next, toward the public, Dr. Ruderman says, explaining that, in addition to targeting patients with rheumatic disease, the campaign could also be targeted more generally to those who may develop rheumatic disease to gain backing for legislation and other policy decisions that support rheumatology.

ACR members are encouraged to volunteer to help spread the Simple Tasks message. Rheumatologists can get involved by giving out the bent-fork lapel pins in their offices, playing educational videos in examination and waiting rooms, using Simple Tasks materials with trainees, speaking locally or at regional chapter meetings, and contacting their lawmakers to ask for legislative support of rheumatology.

As Dr. Ruderman notes, “We’re providing materials and support and data so [rheumatologists] can talk about the importance of referrals and early treatment, so they can make a difference.”

Kimberly J. Retzlaff is a medical journalist based in Denver.