Dear Friend:
Introducing CreakyJoints Australia! It’s your American Cousin Seth here, extending a very Creaky welcome to our new Aussie community!
I’m the co-founder of the CreakyJoints online patient community that is today part of the non-profit Global Healthy Living Foundation. In 2008 I had the great fortune of visiting Australia and on that trip, met the love of my life (who is today the mother of our child!), Cara, who was born and raised in Sydney. This began my fascination with and appreciation of Australia (not to mention the coffee, beaches and meat pies — in that order), and today, we’re proud to have expanded our organization to not only include Australia, but with a deliberate focus on the wants and needs of the Aussie patient and caregiver community.
CreakyJoints came about in the middle of a sleepless night during University, back in 1999, when I was feeling especially sick (what is today referred to as a “flare”), vulnerable and confused about why I felt so alone as a young person with arthritis, yet intrinsically knowing that there were so many people out there who could share strength and experience with me and each other.
So we set out to build a web site that would support the patient community with an edgy, fun, supportive and informative approach. To “Bring Arthritis to its Knees,” as we’d often say. And, since our founding in 1999, CreakyJoints has honed its focus to provide people with accessible arthritis education, advocacy to strengthen the patient voice among decision-makers, support so that we can all cope better and patient-centered research to one day find a cure for our disease — with an app called ArthritisPower.
Today, our community has grown to more than 100,000 people, including patients, caregivers, family members and healthcare providers from all around the world. No matter what hemisphere you live in, you may have challenges accessing the straightforward educational material that can help you make informed decisions about your treatment paths, and this is what we’re aiming to address.
CreakyJoints Australia is our first step in widening our community beyond U.S. borders. In this space, dedicated to the Australian community and overseen and coordinated by a leading patient voice whose last name is too ironic not to love (Naomi Creek), we will publish noteworthy news, relevant educational resources, tips and lifestyle articles that directly address issues that are important and specific to arthritis patients living in Australia, and updates on the forthcoming new types of treatments we can expect, called biosimilars. Part of the fun for us will be experimenting with new approaches together, and we hope you’ll participate in the programs and information that we’re putting together just for you. We welcome your feedback, comments and personal contributions to our site.
Lastly, please note that CreakyJoints, and the Global Healthy Living Foundation, will NEVER ask you for money or a donation. Everything we do, and all that we offer, is completely free. We are funded through grants and sponsorships from drug manufacturers — our way of holding them accountable to patients and their families. GHLF also has multi-year contracts with the U.S.-government-funded Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, in addition to private foundations such as the Hewlett Foundation.
GHLF is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the U.S., and on 1 March 2016, Global Healthy Living Foundation Pty was designated a registered health promotion charity by the Australian Business Registrar.
To Good Health,
Seth Ginsberg
Co-Founder & President
…And now, half Aussie (my better half!)
