Video Journaling

An innovative approach to communicating what RA means to people living with the disease.

Through videos, patients tell their stories of what it is like to live with Rheumatoid Arthritis. These video journals personalize the face of rheumatoid arthritis and help people who know little about RA understand.

The goal of this project is to educate the general public, clinicians, and family members about what it’s like to live with RA. Each video also provides a venue for patients to help others with RA understand that they are not alone and others experience similar challenges. These videos capture a diversity of voices on anything and everything that is important to patients – whether it is accomplishing everyday tasks, RA’s effect on family relationships, or managing clinical visits and medications. Each of these personal video journals will be woven into a tapestry of voices and allow us to take an oral experience that in the past would have been one to one and now share it one to many. Research on patient journaling has been found to benefit patients in the following ways:

  • Journaling and emotional expression improves disease outcomes in RA (Smyth JAMA 1999)
  • First person stories enhances empathy among caregivers and health care providers (Kumagai et.al. Adv in Health Sci Educ 2008)
  • Videojournaling helped patients take control and gave them more confidence in managing their disease. (Rich, Via Project, 2001)