Patients who have recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis may receive three consecutive weeks of treatment, education and rehabilitation. The half-day sessions are held in the Rehabilitation Department at Headwaters.

Through the combined expertise of a multi-disciplinary health care team, individuals learn how to manage their illness to reduce the impact of the symptoms, which results in an improvement in their quality of life. The team includes an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Arthritis care, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and a clinical pharmacist and rheumatologists from William Osler Health Centre.

Patients must be referred to the program by their family physician.

Research shows that initiating treatment as early as possible can greatly slow the progress of the disease and its debilitating effect on joints. With more than four million Canadians suffering from arthritis, this painful and debilitating disease is a major health issue. According to the Arthritis Society, the number of afflicted 45 to 64-year olds is expected to double by the year 2031.