Core Curriculum to Facilitate the Expansion of a Rheumatology Practice to Include Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants.

Objective: Due to an aging population, increasing prevalence of rheumatic disease, and a growing supply and demand gap of rheumatology providers, innovative solutions are needed to meet the needs of persons with rheumatic conditions. Nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) have been identified as a group of health professionals who could help address the workforce shortage. The Executive Committee of the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ARHP), a division of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), charged a task force to facilitate the preparation of NPs/PAs to work in a rheumatology practice setting.

RAHelp: an online intervention for individuals with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To test an intervention for improving self-management in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using an online, cognitive-behavioral, self-management group program (RAHelp), with weekly telephone support.

Methods: A 2-group, randomized study design was used to compare an intervention for RA versus a waiting-list control condition. The intervention used a secure web site (RAHelp.