Exploring the experiences of young men living with inflammatory arthritis

鲁本·麦克尼尔·沃尔什（Ruben McNeil-Walsh）is undertaking a research PhD at the University of the West of England, exploring the experiences of young men living inflammatory arthritis, with a focus on masculinity

The social impact of chronic conditions in young men is an under researched area, and with evidence suggesting that young men aren’t as equipped to look after their health, it’s crucial to understand why so that we can provide better healthcare options in the future.

您可以分享研究的头条新闻吗？

我的研究探讨了患有炎症性关节炎（IA）的年轻人，年龄16-24岁的年轻人的经历。

I’m interested in understanding the ways in which a chronic disease affects men during this crucial stage of growing up, as well as investigating if there are certain approaches to self-management and coping strategies which young men adopt.

For this research project I’m using one-to-one interviews, which will give young men with IA a platform to contribute their views on the subject. Down the line, I am hoping to run some focus groups to see what young men feel would work best for their care.

I’m interested in investigating how chronic疼痛可能会影响年轻人作为男性发展的方式，以及学习成为男人的方式可能会影响慢性疼痛的管理。

It’s easy to make assumptions about how chronic pain might be affecting how a young man negotiates the complexities of their late teens and early adulthood, but until we speak with men who have experienced it for themselves, we cannot be sure.

How would describe chronic pain and how can the impact be different for young people?

简要说明慢性疼痛是棘手的！

这是一个非常复杂的问题,可以接近from many different angles. Personally, I see chronic pain as a physical and emotional challenge for patients, which requires ongoing and consistent medical management as well as buckets of resilience.

There are similarities in the ways in which chronic pain affects people of all ages, but there are certainly challenges unique to younger people.

For example, many of the ways in which young people socialise and develop requires a level of physical mobility and so might not be possible for a young person with chronic pain.

另一个例子是教育。患有慢性疼痛的孩子有时无法上学，这可能会对他们的教育程度和整体发展产生连锁反应。

您为什么认为与年轻人（特别是年轻人）进行研究很重要？

Chronic diseases like IA have no cure, so there is always going to be a need for some level of management.

This means that young people diagnosed with a chronic condition can expect to spend most of their lives in and around health services.

This can be a daunting prospect and so it is essential that we understand the experiences, concerns and preferences of young people with these diseases as best as is possible, so that they can enjoy the best quality of life possible.

我们从与成年人患有关节炎的成年人的研究中知道，对于某些部分护理，男人和女人都有不同的偏好。对于年轻人来说，这是否相同。

希望通过与IA的年轻人谈谈他们的经历，我们可以感觉到哪种医疗方法可能最有效。

Unfortunately, evidence would suggest that young men are not always great at taking care of their health. The aim is to get an understanding of how being a young man with a chronic disease might be influencing decisions regarding healthcare, and from that assess what support could be put in place to meet the needs of this group.

What do you hope will be different in the future for young people living with chronic pain?

Versus Arthritis, and others, are doing fantastic work in raising awareness that inflammatory arthritis affects young people too.

Second, I hope that the continued progress in the effectiveness of treatments continues, particularly regarding achieving a steady state of remission.

这将使患有慢性疼痛的年轻人知道自己的症状将是稳定而不是波动的，只有更加自信地向前看。反过来，这将使他们能够制定计划并享受改善的生活质量。

Find out more aboutRuben’s research.

每当您需要我们时，我们都在这里。

读advice and information for young peoplewho have arthritis and their families, including how to ease your symptoms and tell friends about your condition.

• If you or a family member under the age of 25 has arthritis,我们的年轻人和家庭服务is here to support.
• If you would like to talk to someone, you can call our自由热线索林在0800 5200 520
• 如果您超过18岁，可以join our young people’s forum on our online communityto chat to others like you
• Check out ourArthritis Tracker app从疼痛，疲劳和情绪健康中跟踪症状。免费下载免费的iPhoneonTheapple应用商店和Androidon Google Play。 
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