Arthritis Program

A large number of women in the United States suffer from arthritis. In a 2005 survey, more than one in four adult women (ages 18 and over), compared to 17% of adult men, reported having been diagnosed with arthritis; and six in ten elderly women (65 and over) suffer from the condition. Arthritis is a particularly acute problem among Black women: one in two Black women ages 45 or over, compared to 40% of White women, has arthritis.¹ States’ participation in a federally funded state-based arthritis program is critical to increasing awareness of arthritis as a public health problem and creating education, intervention and treatment strategies for people living with arthritis.

Does the state receive a high level of federal funds for its arthritis program?

The CDC provides funding to a limited number of states to disseminate and deliver evidence-based arthritis program interventions. The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) also awards significantly smaller project grant funding to state health departments. States receive a “meets policy” if they receive funding from the CDC. States receive a “limited policy” if they receive funding from the NACDD. States receive a “weak policy” if they applied for but do not receive any CDC or NACDD funding for their arthritis programs. States receive a “no policy” if they did not apply for these program funds.

The way in which this indicator is evaluated has changed from the 2007 Report Card and therefore there is no comparison to 2007.

State	Strength of Policy	Change from 2007
Alabama	Weak Policy	N/A
Alaska	Limited Policy	N/A
Arizona	Weak Policy	N/A
Arkansas	Weak Policy	N/A
California	Meets Policy	N/A
Colorado	Weak Policy	N/A
Connecticut	Weak Policy	N/A
Delaware	No Policy	N/A
District of Columbia	Weak Policy	N/A
Florida	Meets Policy	N/A
Georgia	Weak Policy	N/A
Hawaii	Weak Policy	N/A
Idaho	Weak Policy	N/A
Illinois	Limited Policy	N/A
Indiana	Limited Policy	N/A
Iowa	Limited Policy	N/A
Kansas	Meets Policy	N/A
Kentucky	Limited Policy	N/A
Louisiana	No Policy	N/A
Maine	Weak Policy	N/A
Maryland	Limited Policy	N/A
Massachusetts	Limited Policy	N/A
Michigan	Meets Policy	N/A
Minnesota	Meets Policy	N/A
Mississippi	Limited Policy	N/A
Missouri	Meets Policy	N/A
Montana	No Policy	N/A
Nebraska	Weak Policy	N/A
Nevada	Weak Policy	N/A
New Hampshire	No Policy	N/A
New Jersey	No Policy	N/A
New Mexico	Meets Policy	N/A
New York	Limited Policy	N/A
North Carolina	Weak Policy	N/A
North Dakota	No Policy	N/A
Ohio	Weak Policy	N/A
Oklahoma	Weak Policy	N/A
Oregon	Meets Policy	N/A
Pennsylvania	Weak Policy	N/A
Rhode Island	Weak Policy	N/A
South Carolina	Meets Policy	N/A
South Dakota	No Policy	N/A
Tennessee	Meets Policy	N/A
Texas	Weak Policy	N/A
Utah	Meets Policy	N/A
Vermont	No Policy	N/A
Virginia	Weak Policy	N/A
Washington	No Policy	N/A
West Virginia	Weak Policy	N/A
Wisconsin	Meets Policy	N/A
Wyoming	No Policy	N/A

Policy Indicator Counts

Meets Policy:

12

Limited Policy:

9

Weak Policy:

20

No/Harmful Policy:

10

Better:

0

Same:

0

Worse:

0

Data Source: Communication between the National Women's Law Center, the Arthritis Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), June 2010.

Footnotes

¹ Salganicoff et al., The Kaiser Family Foundation, “Women and Health Care: A National Profile,” July 2005, available at http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/whp070705pkg.cfm, accessed September 23, 2010.