Whether near our location or further away... call us.  We can help!

Founded in 1987 and a registered charity since 1990, the Arthritis West Island Self Help Association (AWISH) is a non profit, community resource organization located on the West Island of Montreal, in Québec, Canada. AWISH is supported by its members, the local communities, businesses and West Island Community Shares.  We also work cooperatively with national and international arthritis organizations.  To help people achieve a better quality of life, we provide the much-needed tools and encouragement through our volunteers who have their own experiences with arthritis, and who are eager to share in one-on-one or group settings.  Since our humble beginnings, we have helped thousands of people who have learned to cope, and some now volunteer and continue the cycle of empathy and support.  We do understand your pain!

The MISSION of AWISH is to encourage self-help through a process of education, information, support, and awareness.  Some of our current and future initiatives include Juvenile Arthritis programs and bringing information and awareness to the multi-cultural mosaic of the West Island of Montreal.  Our VISION is of a world where all persons, with any form of arthritis, have access to the education, information, support and tools to help them achieve the best quality of life possible.

Time and again, AWISH has demonstrated its credibility in the community and complements the healthcare system by providing exercise programs, coping skills and techniques courses, support groups and information sessions to arthritis patients, their families and friends and the community at large.  As a vital support and information resource organization to the more than 35,000 affected West Islanders, we urge anyone who feels alone, or who is at their wits end with their pain, to contact us and begin the journey towards hope.

Our Achievements Throughout The Years

In 1988 and for the first time in Québec, AWISH launched the Arthritis Self Management Program (ASMP) which was developed by Stanford University.  At the time, the only other province to offer this course was British Columbia. 

AWISH was instrumental in developing an arthritis aquatic program at the Pointe Claire Community Aquatic Centre, which follows the main points of the program developed in the United States by The Arthritis Foundation.

In 1989, and with the help of the physiotherapy department of the Lachine General Hospital, an arthritis exercise program was begun and given at the Sarto Desnoyers Community Centre in Dorval.  AWISH is very proud of this program which remains extremely popular today and given also at the Dollard des Ormeaux Community Centre.

In 2007, financing was approved by the Borough of Pierrefonds/Roxboro for an adapted playground to benefit special needs children.  Phase one of this great project began in 2008 - slated for completion in 2009.

To find out more about AWISH, please consult the FAQ index.

FACTS & FIGURES

In 2000, arthritis and rheumatism affected nearly 4 million Canadians aged 15 years and older, representing 16% of this population. Arthritis was the second and third most common chronic condition reported by women and men respectively.

It is estimated that in 2026, 6.4 million Canadians (20.6%) 15 years of age and older will have the disease, the largest increases occurring among adults aged 55 years and older.

Source:  Public Health Agency of Canada

Arthritis

• Is the number one cause of long-term disability in Canada.
  

• Prevents 150,000 Québécois and 600,000 Canadians from working each year.

• Forces more than 50% of arthritis-afflicted Canadian workers to leave the workforce.

• Costs Canadians $4.4 billion per year, posing an unacceptable social and economic burden with concomitant loss of productivity.

• From babies to adolescents, arthritis does not discriminate and is among the most common chronic disease in children.

• Is diagnosed more often in women than men, with the current women to men ratios for the major forms of arthritis set at:

  2 to 1 for Osteoarthritis
  5 to 2 for Rheumatoid Arthritis
  9 to 1 for Lupus
15 to 1 for Scleroderma
10 to 1 for Fibromyalgia (also known as Muscular Rheumatism)

Arthritis is NOT just Grannie's aches and pains!  It can strike any age group, and is tragically debilitating when its most virulent form, Juvenile Arthritis, afflicts the young.  Current estimates show as many as 1 in 1,000 Canadian children, below the age of 16, living with Juvenile Arthritis.

With more than 100 different variations of the disease, as well as arthritic symptoms attending other serious diseases, arthritis can be life-threatening as, for example, in several poignant incidents of fatal scleroderma.

To find out more about arthritis, please consult the FAQ index.

Created for AWISH by Patricia McManus, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Copyright 2009