Exploring the healthcare journey of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a mapping project - implications for practice.

Objective: Consumers of healthcare can reveal important insights into the personal challenges they experience when negotiating their health needs. The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) wanted to explore the experiences of those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in order to understand the impact on the individual and on healthcare resources and benchmark care against published standards and guidelines.

Methods: A project was designed to explore the experiences of individuals with sero-positive RA who had been diagnosed for three years or less.