Expert volunteers and patients, our best team!

The patient is the raison d’être of the Osteoarthritis Foundation International (OAFI) and is the engine that drives us to work and move forward.

OAFI Volunteer

Being an OAFI volunteer means being committed to the cause and helping to carry out the initiatives promoted in favor of other patients and the Society in the field of health. There is so much to do that we need the support of volunteers to publicize the awareness and sensitization activities we carry out, to participate in their organization and development, to know their experience and opinion regarding the disease, treatment and activities undertaken by OAFI; to take part in study groups on the pathology, etc. In short, we need people to help us give a voice to joint pathology and give it the importance it deserves in our society.

Expert Patient

In addition, at OAFI we believe that the patient’s role in managing his or her disease should be an active one. That is why we have created the “Expert Pacient“ following the pattern of the Center for Patient Education Research in Stanford University (US), developed with the help of the Hospital del Mar en Barcelona.

We intend to enhance the patient’s self-responsibility and encourage self-care, the contents of the program being developed by a training team of health professionals, composed of family doctors, nurses, rheumatologists, rehabilitators, physiotherapists and psychologists; and the result has been a rich training and a set of informative materials to learn more about the disease and appropriate habits such as weight control, appropriate exercises to improve joint health, how to live with the pathology and maintain quality of life.

An informed person is better able to manage his illness. He or she will feel better, more autonomous and will be able to help other people, because a person who has already gone through the same thing has a special credit. In addition, between all of us, OAFI makes the public health system more sustainable. To be an expert patient it is not enough to be a person affected by the disease, but you must be able to take responsibility for your own disease and take care of yourself; you must have an empathetic profile with an interest in helping, be motivated and know how to transmit optimism, as well as have communication skills. In any case, in the program we reinforce the skills needed to manage the physical, emotional and social impact of the disease, improving the quality of life and transmitting it adequately to other patients.

If you are interested in the initiative and want to collaborate, in any way, we encourage you to contact us by writing to:: info@oafifoundation.com; or calling to 34) 931594015.

Cheer up, we need you and we are needed! Nothing will fill you as much.

Maria Teresa Verges Milano

Director of Patients and Volunteers