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Background: Chronic rheumatological diseases (RMDs) predominantly affect women, representing 80% of patients. Many of these women face a dual burden of managing disabilities caused by their condition and caregiving responsibilities for family members. This dynamic is exacerbated by traditional androcentric family structures that lack equitable caregiving practices. These challenges result in insufficient self-care and adverse health outcomes. To address these issues, Reu+ | Liga Reumatològica Catalana, a patient association for RMDs in Catalonia, launched the ReumaCuida project. This peer-mentoring initiative aims to empower women caregivers with RMDs by promoting equitable caregiving roles and self-care practices.
Raise awareness of the dual challenges faced by women with RMDs.
Support women caregivers by fostering understanding and promoting shared caregiving responsibilities.
Prevent additional health issues through education on self-care.
Advocate for gender equality in caregiving roles within families and communities.
Highlight the importance of caregiving in sustaining life and community well-being.
Methods: The ReumaCuida program adopted a comprehensive, participant-centered approach:
Pre-test assessments: Conducted during the initial session to identify personalized caregiving challenges and barriers.
Individual sessions: Over 11 one-on-one mentoring sessions, participants addressed societal and familial caregiving challenges and learned strategies to overcome patriarchal stereotypes that hinder their self-care and autonomy.
Group sessions: Focused on building self-esteem at personal and collective levels, fostering mutual support among participants.
Educational session: Delivered theoretical training on gender equality in caregiving roles, highlighting workplace equity and the redistribution of family responsibilities.
Emotional education with animals: Participants engaged in a session with horses at a farm school, helping them identify and harness emotional resilience and self-management skills.
Results: Preliminary findings reveal that participants gained a deeper understanding of self-care and the significance of shared caregiving responsibilities. Major challenges included a lack of family support and societal expectations disproportionately burdening women. These obstacles were addressed through tailored mentoring, which enhanced participants’ emotional and social resources. Participants reported improved self-esteem, stronger advocacy for equitable caregiving within their families, and increased capacity to influence their immediate communities. Notably, the project underscored the societal implications of caregiving by emphasizing its foundational role in family and community stability. It also highlighted the need for policy changes to ensure equitable caregiving roles and better support for women caregivers with RMDs.
Conclusion: ReumaCuida has proven to be a transformative tool, empowering women over 45 with RMDs to balance caregiving responsibilities with their health needs. By amplifying participants’ voices, the program has successfully advocated for public policies that promote equitable caregiving practices and better care systems for women. Through this pilot program, ReumaCuida has illuminated the real needs of women with RMDs who are also caregivers, offering critical insights to public authorities for improving healthcare and social policies.
REFERENCES: NIL.
Acknowledgements: This project was supported by the Departament of Equality and Feminism of the Generalitat de Catalunya, CNDE (Spanish National Council of Women) and Reu+ | Liga Reumatològica Catalana.
Disclosure of Interests: None declared.
© The Authors 2025. This abstract is an open access article published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases under the CC BY-NC-ND license (