Politics Home | Essex woman is the face of a national campaign raising awareness of arthritis

Christie Adams is working with the charity Arthritis UK to explain the impact and severity of a range of conditions that come under the umbrella term ‘arthritis’. This campaign aims to encourage people with symptoms to seek help and to tackle the stigma and isolation that people with the condition face. 

Her experiences featured in the national campaign appearing across all four nations on billboards, bus stops, in print, and on broadcast media that ran until the end of November. 

Speaking on living with psoriatic arthritis, Christie says:

“When I got my arthritis diagnosis, I just kind of broke down because I didn’t think I’d have something like that, it was a really hard appointment for me. This diagnosis initially affected my life completely in the worst way. I had to leave jobs as I couldn’t stand without pain. It got to the point where I couldn’t walk and had to crawl around the house most of the day.”

“Too often arthritis is dismissed as an older person’s condition, but this is a myth. It is important that people with symptoms come forward to ask for help and get a diagnosis so they can get the treatment they need.” 

As part of this campaign, Arthritis UK is highlighting the prevalence of the condition across the country and in the East of England.   

Lived experience survey

In the charity’s biggest survey of people with arthritis, which surveyed 8,000 people, 615 are from the East of England.

Key unreleased stats from Arthritis UK show that in Essex and rest of the East of England: 

• More than 2 in 5 (43%) said that arthritis had impacted their ability to work. Of these, over 2 in 5 (43%) have stopped work due to their arthritis and more than 1 in 3 people said arthritis played a part in their decision to retire.  
• Nearly 3 in 10 (29%) surveyed in the East of England say arthritis severely or very severely impacted their life in the past year.    
• Almost 3 in 5 surveyed (58%) say they are living in pain most or all the time due to their arthritis.    
• Over 1 in 3 (38%) surveyed did not feel their condition was not well managed.   
• Nearly 1 in 2 of those surveyed (46%) felt their symptoms were not taken seriously or were underplayed by a frontline healthcare professional when they were trying to identify their arthritis.   
• More than 4 in 10 people (46%) of those surveyed reported their ability to exercise was affected severely or very severely by their arthritis symptoms – even though being active can be important in preventing other long-term conditions.   
• Over 6 in 10 people (64%) said that waiting for treatment had an impact on their mental health.   

The full report can be found here – Arthritis UK- Left Waiting, Left Behind report 

Deborah Alsina MBE, Chief Executive of Arthritis UK, said:   

Over 10 million people in the UK live with arthritis, like Christie, facing daily pain and fatigue that erodes their quality of life and ability to earn a living. Arthritis is grossly misunderstood. We must tackle the myth that it is an inevitable part of ageing and improve the diagnosis rates and the treatment available, especially as the number of people with arthritis increases.

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Arthritis UK was previously known as Versus Arthritis and has changed its name following consultation with people with the condition. This research showed that the new name would improve visibility, leading to more people with arthritis being supported.  

Arthritis UK provides support services and advice, and trains healthcare professionals throughout the NHS to improve patient experiences. It campaigns and advocates for the rights of individuals with arthritis and is the largest dedicated funder of arthritis research globally.    

Arthritis UK’s new website and support tools can be found at www.arthritis-uk.org

For more information or to interview Christie, please do get in touch with the Arthritis UK press office by emailing [email protected] or calling 0300 7900 456.