ARTHRITIS SUFFERERS will soon be able to learn more techniques to help them live with the disease from two locals.
Debbie Van’t Kruis and Shirley Gray have taken a training course with the Arthritis Society that taught them to teach the Arthritis Self-Management Program, which includes learning how to manage pain, reduce fatigue and protect joints.
Van’t Kruis became interested in learning to teach the workshops because the disease runs in her family.
“My mom had both of her knees replaced and my grandmother had osteoarthritis and was bedridden for the last two years of her life,” said Van’t Kruis. “My aunts and uncles all had knee replacements. That’s why I did it.”
She stopped smoking years ago and ran the Honolulu Marathon for Joints in Motion in honour of her mom and she plans to return to do the run for a second time, once again for Joints in Motion.
“It’s (arthritis) not really one of these things you can really control with diet and exercise and they (Arthritis Society) sure don’t get the funding that other major chronic diseases get like cancer and diabetes. The Arthritis Society is pretty much on their own,” she said.
Workshop dates are expected to be set soon for the fall.