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Introduction: Goals of this session and getting started

The Taking Charge: Managing JIA Online Program is designed to help you learn strategies to better manage JIA. Find out what to expect from each session and discover the goals of the program.

Key Points

• The Taking Charge: Managing JIA Online Program will help you learn as much as possible about JIA and different ways to cope with it in your daily life.

• After the introduction, there are nine sessions in the program that are made up of several parts.

• By the end of session nine, you will have many coping techniques to choose from. You will be able to choose the ones that worked best for you.

Education sections

The introduction is followed by nine sessions. When you complete session nine, your journey will be complete. Each session has several parts:

• Information about JIA.
• Self-management strategies to help you manage JIA. These strategies will be in the treatment sessions.
• Assignments, which will help you try out your new skills. These will be in the treatment sessions.

Information about JIA

Each session will provide you with more information about JIA. You will have the chance to learn more about what JIA is, how it is diagnosed, different types of treatments and what resources are available to you.

Self-management strategies for JIA

Included in most of the treatment sessions are different strategies you can use to help manage JIA. For example, there are strategies on how to manage your pain, how to help yourself relax, how to better communicate with your health-care team and how to get ready for university or college. We encourage you to try all of these strategies out so that you can choose the ones that work best for you!

Practicing JIA management strategies

In the treatment sessions, you will be given an assignment that involves practicing some of the skills that you are learning. The more you are able to practice the techniques, the more success you will have with the treatment program. It may help to set aside a time each day for trying out these strategies. For example, many teenagers like to do them after school or in the evening. The assignments will not take much time, usually 10 to 15 minutes each day. Regular practice will help you develop these new skills. Just like when you learn to play a new sport, or learn a new language, practice is the only way to improve your skills.

What can you expect in this JIA program?

There are different sections that you can explore on different topics:

• About JIA
• Understanding diagnosis
• Treatment and management:

o Managing symptoms
o Coping strategies
o JIA medications
o Other types of care
o Therapies, self-monitoring, and supports.

• Your lifestyle
• Looking ahead.

Most teenagers with JIA have faced some challenges in their everyday lives due to JIA, or the treatments they require. This program will help you learn as much as possible about JIA and different ways to cope with it in your daily life.

As long as you keep practicing the strategies we recommend, you are likely to see gradual improvements. You may start to feel better, more in control and able to do more things.

We recommend that you try all of the techniques that we suggest, even if you do not think they will be helpful. This way, when you complete the program, you will have many techniques to choose from. You will be able to choose the ones that worked best for you.

 

Welcome to the Taking Charge: Managing JIA Online Program! In this section you will learn what to expect in the program, how to get started and how to set goals to better manage JIA.

JIA stands for juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Find out what causes JIA, the different types of JIA and how it will affect you now and in the future.

Diagnosing JIA may be difficult as joint pain and swelling may be a part of many different illnesses. Diagnosis of JIA typically includes a physical exam, blood tests and imaging studies.

Pain, stiffness, and tiredness or fatigue, are common symptoms of JIA. These symptoms can lead to difficulties with participating in school and sports activities, and enjoying time with your friends. Learn about pain, fatigue, and stiffness, how to manage symptoms and how these symptoms can cause stress.

There are several strategies you can use to help you cope with pain, stress, and sleep problems. These include relaxation, distraction, and managing your thoughts. In this section, learn more about how each of these strategies work.

When you know about your medications, you can talk to your doctor about them and make good choices for yourself. Find out about the different types of JIA medications, how they work, common side effects, and the importance of talking to your doctor about your medication plan.

Did you know that there are many other therapies that you can use to manage JIA symptoms? They can help to prevent complications so that you can do all the things you want to do. In this section, learn more about physical, occupational, and psychological therapies; maintaining healthy nutrition; surgical options for JIA, and more.

Your role in making decisions about your treatment plan is very important. Your health-care team and other members of your support system are available to help you make these decisions. In turn, they can help you to manage your JIA.

Whether you have JIA or not, you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Find out how to stay healthy and active, learn about puberty and relationships, healthy body image, and making healthy lifestyle choices.

Sometime between the ages of 18 to 22, you most likely will transition from your pediatric rheumatologist to the adult health care setting. At that time, there are a number of things you, your family, and your health-care team can do to help make this change go smoothly.