["Mobile occupational therapy" for rheumatic patients: development of the service, utilization and management with aids and braces].

The development and utilization of occupational therapy as a home care service for patients with rheumatic diseases is examined. This new service was implemented in Schleswig-Holstein by local branch of the German League against Rheumatism, an organization devoted to the promotion of help and self-help for patients. The data for this study are based on standardized documentations within a comprehensive evaluation of model-intervention, and also accounting records.

[Developing occupational integration of patients with chronic polyarthritis during productive years].

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common disorder that depends on the activity of the disease, the severeness of the functional losses, and the degree of suffering from pain. In a study of 817 RA patients it could be shown that the occupational status depends as much on the severing of the disease as on the job status, educational status, and income.