Living well with inflammatory rheumatic disease:

promoting psychological flexibility in newly diagnosed patients

Summary

Inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRDs) describes a group of long-term conditions that affect the immune system. Around one in 12 women and one in 20 men will develop an IRD during their lifetime. These patients are more likely to experience worry, low mood and depression compared to the general population. The effects are difficult to deal with because these symptoms can increase pain and fatigue and limit work and social life. Help with symptoms soon after diagnosis might improve well-being in the immediate and long-term.

We do not have a proven therapy to offer patients, so we want to know whether a psychological approach called 'Acceptance and Commitment Therapy' (ACT) can help. ACT helps patients to focus on what is important to them and to feel abler to cope with stressful situations. Evidence shows that patients with other health conditions have found ACT helpful for improving symptoms including depression, pain and quality of life. We need to understand whether ACT could be a useful therapy for patients with IRDs.

Our overall question is 'Can ACT help newly diagnosed patients manage the psychological challenges of their health condition?' Before we can test whether ACT is effective for IRDs, we want to know:

• What can we learn from ACT in other long-term physical health conditions?
• What are the views of stakeholders (patients and service providers) on ACT for IRDs?

Answering these questions will help us develop a proposal to test the effectiveness of an ACT support package for patients newly diagnosed with IRDs.

Updated 30/12/2021