About Us

Health Partnership Program

March 25, 2003

About the NIAMS Community Health Center/Cardozo Clinic

What is the NIAMS Community Health Center?
Why is the NIAMS Community Health Center being established?
Who can take part in the health center's programs?
Where is the health center located?
What type of patient care services are available at the health center?
What kinds of health information and education programs are available at the health center?
How will I benefit from participating in the health center's programs?
How does the NIAMS benefit from the NIAMS Community Health Center?
What are arthritis and other rheumatic diseases?
What is the NIAMS?
More on the NIAMS Community Health Center

What is the NIAMS Community Health Center?

The NIAMS Community Health Center is a medical and health information center providing health care services to people affected by arthritis, lupus, and other rheumatic diseases. The health center offers patient care with access to a specialist, health information and education programs, and referral to clinical investigations for the prevention and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The health center includes a main facility in upper northwest Washington, D.C., and two outreach facilities in the downtown northwest and northeast areas of the city.

The health center is being established through a partnership with Unity Health Care, Inc., a community-based health management company with health care facilities located throughout Washington, D.C.

Why is the NIAMS Community Health Center being established?

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is mandated to address health disparities in rheumatic, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases. In response to this mandate, the NIAMS Community Health Center provides researchers the opportunity to (1) increase understanding of health disparities in rheumatic diseases, (2) provide health care to the community, (3) increase participation of minorities in research studies, (4) increase the number of underrepresented biomedical researchers, and (5) train NIAMS medical residents to care for patients from minority communities.

Who can take part in the health center's programs?

Everyone can take advantage of the health center's programs. Health information and education programs are available to everyone, including patients, their family members, and friends.

People who suspect they have, or have been diagnosed with arthritis, lupus, or any other rheumatic disease can receive medical attention at the health center by (1) referring themselves or (2) being referred by a physician from Unity Health Care, Inc., or any other health care organization.

Where is the health center located?

The NIAMS Community Health Center is located in the Unity Health Care, Inc., Upper Cardozo Clinic at 3020 14th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. This facility includes rooms for patient examinations and health education programs, as well as a demonstration kitchen for nutrition education programs.

What type of patient care services are available at the health center?

Medical care is available at several levels. At the first level, patients can visit with the nurse practitioner, who will discuss their problem and determine if a rheumatologist is the appropriate type of doctor to provide care. Depending on their medical condition, patients may receive physical or occupational therapy and dietary recommendations and/or exercise recommendations. No consent forms are needed for visits with the nurse practitioner.

At the second level, patients who need to see a rheumatologist will be enrolled in a natural history study and will need to sign a consent form. Natural history studies are the most general type of clinical studies and cover only standard medical care, including medical examinations, X rays, blood tests, and standard medicines and treatments. No experimental treatments or procedures are tested in this type of study.

X rays and other laboratory tests will take place at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center on the campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Transportation will be provided between the NIAMS Community Center in Washington, D.C., and the clinical center in Maryland.

Medical staff will monitor the patient's disease progress and treatment program just as in any other health care facility. This information will help physicians and researchers understand the causes of rheumatic diseases and why many of these diseases occur more frequently and more severely in certain minority groups.

At the third level, some patients may be eligible for other clinical studies that may include experimental treatments. For any of these additional studies, patients will need to sign a separate consent form. Anyone who does not want to participate in another study (e.g., treatment study) can still receive standard medical care under the natural history study.

Medical care associated with treatment under any clinical study, including prescription medications, is provided by the NIAMS at no charge to the patient.

Participation in the health center's programs is completely voluntary, and patients may stop using the health center at any time and for any reason. Patients who are receiving care at other health care facilities can request at any time to have medical staff at the health center share their medical information with other physicians.

What kinds of health information and education programs are available at the health center?

Information on the various types of arthritis as well as diseases of the muscles, bones, and skin is available through fact sheets and brochures, which discuss signs and symptoms, management, treatment options, and additional resources. Health education programs include nutrition education through cooking demonstration classes, as well as seminars on managing chronic and disabling diseases and other topics that affect people with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases.

How will I benefit from participating in the health center's programs?

Benefits of participation in the health center's programs include:

  • access to a medical specialist for care of arthritis, lupus, and other rheumatic diseases,
  • medical care for arthritis and other rheumatic diseases, including laboratory tests and prescription medications, at no charge to the patient,
  • medical referrals when needed,
  • access to the most recent scientifically based health information, and
  • access to health seminars on nutrition, disease management, and other topics related to rheumatic diseases.

People who receive medical care under the natural history study will ultimately be advancing scientific knowledge about arthritis and other rheumatic diseases in general, and specifically for the minority communities. A better understanding of what causes these diseases may lead to improved treatments and prevention methods for patients, as well as their family members, friends, and the community.

How does the NIAMS benefit from the NIAMS Community Health Center?

The NIAMS's mission is to (1) support research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of arthritis, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases, (2) support training of scientists to carry out this research, and (3) disseminate information on research progress to improve public health.

The health center helps the institute meet this mission by creating a medical and health information facility where NIAMS researchers can (1) provide medical care where access to a medical specialist is limited, (2) gather health information to answer research questions about disease, and (3) provide scientifically based health information on rheumatic, musculoskeletal, and skin diseases that affect the community.

What are arthritis and other rheumatic diseases?

There are more than 100 rheumatic diseases. These diseases may cause pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints and other supporting structures of the body such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Some rheumatic diseases can also affect other parts of the body, including various internal organs. These can be life-threatening or may be so severe that people are unable to work or carry out their daily activities.

Many people use the word "arthritis" to refer to all rheumatic diseases. However, the word literally means joint inflammation; that is, swelling, redness, heat, and pain caused by tissue injury or disease in the joint. The many different kinds of arthritis comprise just a portion of the various rheumatic diseases. Some rheumatic diseases are described as connective tissue diseases because they affect the body's connective tissueCthe supporting framework of the body and its internal organs. Others are known as autoimmune diseases because they are caused by a problem in which the immune system harms the body's own healthy tissues. Examples of three types of rheumatic diseases follow.

Osteoarthritis--also known as degenerative joint disease, causes joint pain, reduced joint motion, loss of function, and disability. It most often affects the spine, hips, and knees.

Rheumatoid arthritis--an inflammatory disease of the synovium, or lining of the joint, that results in pain, stiffness, swelling, deformity, and loss of function in the joints. Inflammation most often affects joints of the hands and feet.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)--an autoimmune disease in which the immune system harms the body's own healthy cells and tissues. In SLE, this can result in inflammation of and damage to the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels, and brain.

What is the NIAMS?

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), within the U.S. Government. The NIAMS leads the Federal effort on research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases, the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research, and the dissemination of information on research progress to improve public health.

The NIAMS, which is focused on diseases affecting millions of Americans, supports and conducts basic, clinical, and epidemiologic research and research training at universities and medical centers throughout the Nation, as well as through the Intramural Research Program on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.

More on the NIAMS Community Health Center

The NIAMS Community Health Center operates as an extension of the rheumatology research program at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. Some of the medical services provided are available to patients through their participation in clinical investigations. These include noninvasive medical evaluations, such as questionnaires, physical examinations and X rays, as well as invasive techniques such as blood and other laboratory tests. Patients also will have the opportunity to receive the latest investigative treatments. The health information and education programs include the most current scientifically based information available.

For more information call the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases at (301) 495-4484.