Hundreds of Diseases. One Voice.

What You Can Do
Here are several ways you can join in the collective voice to raise awareness during RDAM 2017:

• Visit the ACR’s Simple Tasks website, and check out the wealth of Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month resources you can tap into.
• Speak up on social media by using #RDAM, and show solidarity by using the RDAM profile and cover photo graphics. The ACR also encourages you to use the sample social media posts in the RDAM toolkit on your personal and/or your institution’s social media pages.
• Share the public service announcement you’ll find in the toolkit on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
• With easy-to-use templates and instructions, you can write letters to the editor of your local newspaper and write to legislators to help educate the public about rheumatic diseases.
• Print RDAM 2017 fliers and post them in every exam room as a convenient way to help patients understand how they can use their voice to join the conversation for greater public awareness of their rheumatic disease.
• Encourage your patients to take the Joint IQ quiz.
• Encourage your patients and colleagues to visit RDAM.org to find all the activities, resources and tools available to participate in RDAM 2017.

Dr. Weselman says the ACR will be taking every opportunity each day in September to speak to members, their patients, legislators and healthcare policy advocates to make the most of RDAM 2017. She hopes providers will start planning now and encourage their patients to do the same.

“People with rheumatic diseases are their own best advocates,” Dr. Weselman stresses. “We hope our patients will take advantage of every resource offered through RDAM 2017 and run with it by sharing on social media and leveraging the other tools we are providing to ensure their voices are heard.”

Carina Stanton is a freelance science journalist in Denver.