|
Mission Statement
To support healthcare professionals through fibromyalgia education and resources aimed at improving patient diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life.
About Us
The mission of the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA) is to develop and implement programs to improve the quality of life for people with fibromyalgia (FM). Founded in Southern California in 1997, the NFA works to build national awareness, provide patient assistance and support, educate the medical community, facilitate research, build collaboration between the patient and scientific communities, and develop cohesive and motivated patient advocacy. It is the world’s largest FM nonprofit organization and has more than 85,000 registered constituents. The Association assists an estimated 1.5 million people annually through telephone inquiries, email, and the Internet.
Not only does the NFA represent patients, it is also actively involved in healthcare professional services and education, including:
-
Distribution of thousands of information packets each year at major national medical meetings.
- Continuing Medical Education programs, partnering with leading medical universities including Johns Hopkins, the University of Michigan, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Duke University, Boston University, the University of Wisconsin, and others.
- Collaboration with the National Institutes of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute of Women’s Research regarding better scientific research and dissemination of related scientific discovery to the medical community.
- Development and distribution of the FM Pain Kit, an HCP-specific resource that offers tools to assist in making an FM diagnosis and treating the disorder, as well as patient resource materials to help them live a better quality of life.
- Creation and execution of patient and HCP surveys to help produce better CME programs and offer better outcomes for people living with FM.
The NFA hopes the Fibromyalgia HCP site’s information and resources are beneficial to you. We encourage you to send comments and ideas about how the site can better meet the needs of HCPs to Rae Marie Gleason at rgleason@fmaware.org.
Contact Us
Corporate Offices
Lynne Matallana, President
2121 S. Towne Centre Place, Suite 300
Anaheim, CA 92806
Phone: (714) 921-0150
Fax: (714) 921-6920
For questions or comments, please email: rgleason@fmaware.org
Update on Current Programs/Projects
The National Fibromyalgia Association works actively with their medical advisory board to help assure dissemination of scientific research and ongoing education to healthcare professionals. Our programs are diverse and overlap into many different areas of interest to the medical community.
NFA Scientific Meetings and Symposia
At a historic meeting, developed by the NFA in collaboration with: Daniel Clauw, MD (University of Michigan), Dennis Turk, PhD (University of Washington), Philip Mease, MD (University of Washington), Patrick Wood, MD (Angler Biomedical, LLC), David Williams (University of Michigan), and Robert Bennett, MD (Oregon Health and Science University), prominent fibromyalgia experts voted unanimously to continue discussions on the development of a new international professional organization during the Fibromyalgia Discovery Meeting. The two-day conference was held August 7-8, 2008 at the Airlie Center in Warrenton, Virginia.
Its primary purpose was to investigate the interest of other scientists, government agencies and industry representatives in the creation a professional international organization that would encompass fibromyalgia and conditions which overlap with fibromyalgia, such as interstitial cystitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and restless legs syndrome. Nearly 50 people attended the meeting, including researchers from Israel, Mexico, Italy and Germany.
National and International Medical Meetings
Following is a list of meetings where the NFA exhibits and distributed educational material in 2008:
American Academy of Pain Medicine
America Pain Society
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
American Academy of Pain Management
American Academy of Family Physicians
American College of Rheumatology
EULAR (The European League Against Rheumatism) International
Scientific Meetings represented by NFA
OMERACT
American Academy of Neurology
Neuroscience 2008
National Research Network
Continuing Medical Education
California State University, Fullerton in partnership with the NFA, secured a Unihealth Grant to develop and execute an eight-module CME/CE program for fibromyalgia. This free online presentation offers three in-depth modules created by leading FM scientific researchers plus five modules on alternative treatments, including exercise, nutrition, yoga, and biofeedback. The program has been accredited by six highly regarded organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
- Fibromyalgia Circle of Care Educational Initiative http://www.hopkinscme.edu/ofp/fibromyalgia/index.html
The Fibromyalgia Circle of Care initiative is an multi-interventional, multidisciplinary educational activity that will allow participants to access a variety of media, tools, and best practices guidelines specific to the optimal care and management of fibromyalgia. This initiative is presented by The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and The Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing, in collaboration with the National Fibromyalgia Association.
Medical Advisory Board
Charles E. Argoff, MD
Daniel G. Arkfeld, MD
Robert L Barkin, MBA, Pharm.D, FCP
Robert M Bennett, MD, FRCP
Lawrence Bradley, PhD
Dan Buskila, MD
Lin Chang, MD
Daniel Clauw, MD
Leslie J Crofford, MD
Bente Danneskiald-Samsoe, MD, PhD
Dominique Engel, MD
Patricia A Fennell MSW, LCSW-R
Bernard Filner, MD
Richard Gracely, PhD
Sudhir Gupta, MD, PhD, MACP, FRCP, FACR
June Hagen, PhD
David Hallegua, MD
Robert Harris, MD
Afton Hassett, PhD
Chris Henriksson, MD
Karl Henriksson, MD
Andrew Holman, MD
Kim Jones, PhD
David Katz, MD
Stephen Krafchick, Esq
Charles W Lapp, MD
Geoffrey O Littlejohn, MD
Manuel Martinez-Lavin, MD
Michael McNett, MD
Philip Mease, MD
Harvey Moldofsky, MD
GP Naum III, DO, FAAFP
Gunther Neeck, MD, PhD
Mark Pellegrino, MD
Dieter E Pongratz, Prof, Dr. Med
Joshua Potter, Esq
Daniel Rooks, PhD
I Jon Russell, MD, PhD
David Silver, MD
Stuart Silverman, MD
Roland Staud, MD
Terence Starz, MD
Todd J Swick, MD
Renee Taylor, PhD
Dennis C Turk, PhD
Daniel J Wallace, MD
David Williams, PhD
Patrick Wood, MD
Muhammad Yunus, MD
|
