As May marks Arthritis Awareness Month, one nonprofit is using art to spread awareness.
The Arthritis Foundation launched “Green Heart Fridays”, a free art activation happening nationwide.
“It's a campaign to spread awareness about arthritis and help support our arthritis community,” Vickie Fung with the foundation told KNX News’ Margaret Carrero. “So every Friday in May, our national office will invite people around the country to share a green heart graphic. They can do it on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. They can use our hashtag #greenHeartFridays or #ArthritisAwarenessMonth.”
Fung, who serves as Senior Vice President of Mission & Strategic Initiatives for the Arthritis Foundation, said arthritis is more prevalent than people realize.
“One in five US adults actually are diagnosed with some form of arthritis, and so that's about 20% of the population - the adult population - and it can be quite a complex and debilitating disease,” she said.
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While medications and treatments for arthritis have come a long way, Fung said there are still challenges.
“About 20% of people with rheumatoid arthritis, for instance…they don't respond to treatments that are on the market, and osteoarthritis, we haven't really had a treatment in the last 30 years that's hit the market,” she said.
Katrina Romulo, an L.A.-based graphic designer taking part in "Green Heart Fridays,” told Carrero she was intrigued by the project.
“My grandma also has arthritis,” she said. “She's happened to have arthritis for as long as I've known her, and so I felt like I had a personal connection to this, and I thought it would be really nice to be able to tell a story around it and make some art around it.”
Romulo said she’ll be dropping clues about where to find her "Green Heart" on her Instagram story.
For more information on the “Green Heart Project,” click here. To check out Katrina’s art, click here.
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