
Be an Advocate for Yourself
As the world adjusts to a new normal during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever for people living with autoimmune disease to be advocates for themselves.
When the media keeps mentioning “high risk” groups, you are probably aware of how often they leave out people with chronic conditions like autoimmune disease, or are immunocompromised as a result of their treatment plan. Unfortunately invisible diseases often go overlooked. We need more awareness of autoimmune disease on a broader scale to ensure the health and safety of everyone impacted by these conditions during emergencies.
While everyone is now facing an external threat to health, there needs to be a focus on internal, mental health as well. In an uncertain world stress is commonplace but can induce autoimmune flares and make a person more susceptible to viruses. Be an advocate for yourself, understand the causes of your stress, and the way that works best for you to manage it.
Communities across the world are coming together to support one another. Autoimmune Association has compiled a list of resources we hope will be of use to our community. You can view them by following the link below.
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You are the leading expert in yourself. You know what’s best for you. Make sure that autoimmune disease research reflects who you are.
Autoimmune Association and its research network, ARNet, is at the forefront of representing autoimmune disease patients. The more people who participate, the more accurate and reliable the information is. With larger sets of data, trends can be tracked and analyzed, making it easier for researchers to identify patterns to investigate which will lead to unlocking future medical breakthroughs.
Joining Autoimmune Association and participating in ARNet can mean:
- Paid incentives for survey participation
- Potential participation in clinical trials to test the newest medicines and treatment options.
- Involvement with other leaders and advocates to grow online communities for specific disease group
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