Patient Activities
The Caribbean Arthritis Foundation was founded to assist patients who suffer from Arthritis related diseases with the intent to improve their lives. This is why we focus on these patients and aim to continue to organise activities and events where they can socialise, learn, interact, and more!
The tabs below indicate the past patient activities, and any information about impending events will also be given in the prospective tab.
Patient Appreciation Night 2023
We had the pleasure of closing yet another year by hosting an appreciation night for our patients. This year we held the event on the 28th of November at the La Cabana Beach Resort and Casino. We had a special invitee, Dr. Dirk Kuiken, who gave an informative presentation regarding Arthrosis to about 70 patients suffering from Arthritis related diseases. The night ended with a wonderful Christmas Buffet.
We would like to extend a special thank you to the Reumazorg Nederland, who funded the patient events and continues to support us.
We would like to also thank the Patient Committee for their dedication and enthusiasm in organizing and hosting the patient events this past year as well.
On August 24, 2023, we organized an information evening for patients with the theme “Responsible Medicine Management”.
We would like to thank everyone again for their participation!
Medical Information Night for the patients
On a Wednesday in May, day 17, 2023, we held an medical informative night for the patients a day prior to when we had our Medical Congress of 2023.
We had two specialist come in from all they way from the Netherlands! We had Prof. Dr. Mart van de Laar, who stalked about diagnostics and treatments regarding Jicht. And we had Dr. Roel Erckens, who spoke about inflamation diseases of the eyes.
Support & Nails
On Febuary 23, 2023 we had our first patient event of the year. The Patient Committee was able to invite specialists and profesionals for the patients and family who attented this event.
To start the event with, two social workers from the hospital, Sra. Denise Koolman and Sra. Corina Linssen, were able to explain regarding patient support, what resources are available and how they can support patients in the hospital.
TLater in the night, Sra. Inelris Ecury-Kock of Kosmos Medical Nail Care Services explained how important nail care is. Nails can indicate sickness, as it can show what is affecting the body. Which is why it’s important to maintain and inspect them regularly.
Thank you very much to those we were able to attend this event and to Sra. Denise Koolman, Sra. Corina Linssen, and Sra. Inelris Ecury-Kock for the information they provided.
Patient Appreciation Night 2022
On the night of November 22, 2022, we had the pleasure of holding an appreciation night for our patients as the closing of our successful year. The first half was an informative session by Dr. Hendrikus Van Gaalen about chronic pain, stress and depression. A heavy topic, but interesting and important nonetheless.
The night came to a close with a Christmas buffet, which was very well perceived by the patients.
The board of the Caribbean Arthritis Foundation expressed their appreciation to the members of the Patients Committee for organizing the events during the year of 2022 and at the same time invited the patients for the upcoming events in 2023.
The Caribbean Arthritis Foundation also expressed their appreciation to ReumaZorg Nederland for their confidence and support, which allowed for the organization to have been able to give a successful informative year to our patients on Aruba.
Mind, Body, and Soul
On the 16th of June, 2022, the Caribbean Arthritis Foundation held its 3rd patient activity organized by the Patients Committe. This activity took place at the Centro di Bario Dakota and counted with the participation of 50 patients.
The evening started with a very informative session by Solange Eckmeyer who spoke about anti-inflammatory nutrition for arthritis patients and gave many examples of her own recipes.
The second part of the program consisted of a 45-minute session of Qi Gong by Sofie Slegers of Centro Quivit and Qi Gong Aruba.
Medical Information 2022
On wednesday May 25, 2022, Caribbean Arthritis Foundation hosted an informative small medical congress for rheumatism patients presented by Prof. dr. Michael Nurmohamed.
This very interesting information session for 40 rheumatism patients, was organized by the patient committee under the charge of the Caribbean Arthritis Foundation, this took place in the “Arikok” ballroom of Hyatt Place Aruba Airport. Rheumatic patients had the opportunity to receive valuable information to further expand their knowledge in the field of arthritis. It was a unique information session, because this time prof. dr. Michael Nurmohamed, a rheumatologist at VUmc and Reade, gave an interactive presentation.
The day before he was the keynote speaker during a successful medical conference on the topic “Cardiovascular Risk & Management with Rheumatoid Arthritis”. Michael Nurmohamed presented key and most recent information, based on several studies conducted together with other professors in the Netherlands, in the field of arthritis.
The main topic was the cardiovascular risk and management of rheumatoid arthritis. A person diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis has a greater chance of developing cardiovascular challenges during their lifetime. At the same time, the professor explained to the audience how they can influence these challenges positively.
The Caribbean Arthritis Foundation focuses on the “early diagnosis awareness program” and has among other challenges to improve the position of its patients, by continuously informing them, but also so that they can have the opportunity to share their experience with other patients during various planned activities, thus contributing to a better quality of life.
At the end of the information session each patient received a book written by a Dutch author, sharing valuable information.
A special thank you goes to the Nationale Vereniging ReumaZorg Nederland, which made this information session possible.
Meet & Greet
The Patient Committee of the Caribbean Arthritis Foundation (CAF), led by Mrs. Indra Pereira, organized a Meet and Greet for people with rheumatism, their family members and interested parties at Surfside Marina.
Our guest speaker, Dr. Rashidi Rellum, gave a presentation on ‘Rheumatology on Aruba: paving the way for better care’.
We even had the Red Cross was also present!
Arthritis World Day 2021
October 12 is the International Arthritis Day, which in Aruba has also been observed in a humble way. Take a step back for instance, and remember how you or a loved one is in one way or another suffers from one of the diseases pertaining to Arthritis.
Caribbean Arthritis Foundation is a local foundation that recently participated in the Biba Bida Expo (Live your Life Expo) organized by the Aruban Red Cross with a speech, which was held among other things by Dr. Rashidi Rellum, Aruba’s first rheumatologist, who provided medical services here since January 2019.
The goal of participating in the Biba Bida Expo was to further introduce the foundation. One of the main goals of the Caribbean Arthritis Foundation is to inform the patients on their disease and to improve their position in their respective community.
Caribbean Arthritis Foundation is a foundation that has a close relationship with Reuma Zorg Nederland (RZN).
Arthritis World Day 2019
Yearly, October 12th is internationally regarded to as the World Arthritis Day (WAD). On this day, awerness is spread regarding the existance and impact of rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders (RMDs).
Locally, the month of October is regarded to as the month we put extra focus on Arthitis.
In October, 2019 we organized 3 informational events regarding Rheumatoid Arthritis. On 3 consecutive saturdays we had President Francisco de Mey, Secretary Ebby Schwengle and Rheumatologist Rashidi Rellum talking about the disease Rheumatoid Arthritis.
In attendence were many patients who received ample information on both the foundation and the disease.
We had 3 different locations namely MFA Paradera, MFA Noord Aruba, MFA Savaneta for these events.
