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Trish Barbato: President and CEO, Arthritis Society Canada 

Arthritis Society Canada has been around for almost 80 years, and we were created by an advocate who couldn’t believe that children with arthritis were getting no attention in the health system. So we really come from the roots of advocacy and that continues to be a really important pillar of our work is advocating for access to medication, access to joint replacement, access to specialists. We also provide funding. We’re the largest charitable funder of research around arthritis in Canada. Research is so important in arthritis because arthritis is so misunderstood. People think it’s an older person’s disease. It’s inevitable. It’s wear and tear.

None of that is true. People of every age can get arthritis. Six million Canadians have arthritis, which is more than all the other chronic diseases combined.

Zac Spinosa: Client, Arthritis Society Canada 

I was always a relatively athletic kid. I love sports. I love being active. Being outside was my favorite thing ever. And in 2012, I started experiencing very severe joint pain and rashes all over my body, hives that were covering my wrists, my arms, and I would scratch them so much that I would be bleeding, and it was just horrific and terrifying. And me being 15 years old, I had no idea what was happening to my body. When I got my diagnosis, I was terrified and like it was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me. I felt like I lost all sense of control over my life because I couldn’t do anything that I wanted. I wasn’t able to play sports. You’re a kid. Other kids around you don’t understand the disease. One, it’s invisible, so like you can’t see what arthritis is. I was in the darkest place I’ve ever been, like I didn’t want to go outside. I lost all of my friends, and I was just destroyed by this diagnosis.

Trish Barbato: President and CEO, Arthritis Society Canada 

When we have arthritis, which is autoimmune in nature, then the joints are really starting to be destroyed and there’s a lot of pain associated with that. So it’s about pain, it’s about fatigue, it’s also about mobility issues. One of the things that people don’t know is that joint replacements,

almost all of them, are related to arthritis. So for example, 99 % of knee replacements are due to arthritis. It’s end stage arthritis and it’s the only alternative that people have is to get a full joint replacement.

Zac Spinosa: Client, Arthritis Society Canada 

This disease and the Arthritis Society has been the best thing to happen to me because it, now, it’s given me passion and a fire under me to do something about it. For me, arthritis, like it

hasn’t stopped impacting me, right, so although like I’m in like extremely less pain that I was at my worst and I’m currently in this chair I’m not looking at the end of the tunnel and seeing darkness. I see light now. It doesn’t change the fact that pain is like inevitable when it comes to this disease. Like it’s not going to ever just go away, but it just becomes a part of you, right, and it’s a reminder to enjoy the moments you have.

Trish Barbato: President and CEO, Arthritis Society Canada 

The relationship with Federated Health Charities is really unique because of that focus on health. And I think that is really remarkable for a charity like ours which is a bit of an underdog, misunderstood, many myths surrounding arthritis. It’s so wonderful to have focused donations that are health related. We’re so grateful for the donations that we receive, and we hope that this partnership continues for a long time. 

When you donate to Arthritis Society Canada, your dollars go to research, they go to advocacy, they go to programs like camps, knapsacks for kids, and they go to ensuring that we have information that is evidence -based and relevant to people who are newly diagnosed and living with the disease.

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