Arthritis West Island Self Help (AWISH): QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

The AWISH newsletter, Joint Effort, is published on a quarterly basis and distributed to our membership and to several of our important contacts, such as: medical professionals and establishments, community service organizations, local politicians, libraries. If you are interested in becoming a member and receiving Joint Effort, please contact our office. Here is a sampling of our most recent edition. (Click on image(s) to enlarge)

Membership

The benefits of membership are:
* Subscription to our quarterly newsletter, Joint Effort
* Notices on upcoming events, activities and conferences
* Preferential rates in all our programs

Membership dues
$25.00 - single
$30.00 - family

How to join
To become a member of AWISH, choose one of the following options:

1. Simply print and complete our membership form (on the left-hand side under Membership/Donation) and send it along with your cheque, made payable to AWISH.

2. Contact our office and we will send you the membership form.

Volunteering

"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world".

You have time to spare? You have skills and talents to share? You are looking to give back to the community? Then, why not volunteer?

Everyone has a specialty and perhaps you would like to share you own with us. It is PEOPLE LIKE YOU who make it possible for AWISH to work its mission. Contact our office should you, or someone you know, be interested in helping on the Board, in a particular area of need or just for an individual event.

Advocacy

AWISH extends its support by acts of advocacy on behalf of all arthritis patients, lobbying Federal and Provincial politicians in regards to changes needed to improve the care and well-being of persons living with any of the more than 100 forms of the disease.

For the arthritis patient, this can make a great difference in quality of life, health, and possibly even survival. Our governments must set priorities in health policy and funding. To make decisions, they need to consult their constituents - the taxpayers. Therefore, someone must ensure the governing bodies have sufficient knowledge and understanding of all arthritis issues in order to make fair judgements where priorities are concerned. Among the many advocacy initiatives, AWISH has prioritized four concerns: access to rheumatologists, access to arthritis medications, access to patient care and education and access for the arthritis-impaired.

Achievements

In 1988 and for the first time in Québec, AWISH launched the Arthritis Self Management Program (ASMP) which was developed by Stanford University. At the time, the only other province to offer this course was British Columbia. Today, we offer our own pain and lifestyle management course: Life with Arthritis - Taking Charge of my Pain and Living Well.

Our organization was instrumental in developing an arthritis aquatic program at the Pointe Claire Aquatic Centre, which follows the main points of the program developed by The Arthritis Foundation.

In 1989 and with the help of the physiotherapy department of the Lachine General Hospital, an arthritis exercise program was begun and given at the Sarto Desnoyers Community Centre in Dorval. We are very proud of this program which remains extremely popular and which is now also given at the Dollard des Ormeaux Civic Centre and the East Community Centre in Pierrefonds.

In 2007, AWISH lobbied for an adapted playground to benefit special needs children, including those with Juvenile Arthritis, in the Borough of Pierrefonds / Roxboro. Financing was approved in 2008 and the playground was completed in 2010.