Joint Conversations

The topic for this session is "Finding Your Rhythm: Rest, Sleep & Living Well with Inflammatory Arthritis".

Living with inflammatory arthritis can throw your rhythms off: sleep gets disrupted, energy crashes come out of nowhere, and it’s tough to balance rest with everything life demands.

This relaxed, peer-led session is a space to explore how we rest, recover, and get through the day (and night). Sleep is a big part of it but it’s not the whole story. Whether you’re struggling with pain at night, dealing with racing thoughts, or trying to find routines that actually help, you’re not alone.

Come along to share experiences and hear what’s worked (or hasn’t) for others.

We’ll explore:

• What feeling “rested” means and how to find it on your terms
• Sleep challenges: pain, stress, racing minds, broken routines
• Tech, screens, and winding down: helpful or harmful?
• The impact of seasons, weather, and light on sleep and energy
• Practical ideas for making your sleep space more comfortable
• Balancing your need for rest with real life responsibilities

No need to have all the answers, just bring yourself, your experience, and a willingness to connect.

About Joint Conversations

Online Meet-ups are led by you, for you! They provide an opportunity for you to engage with other people living with your condition and participate in conversations about your health. Meet-ups help you to inspire others, or be inspired, to self-manage health and look after your wellbeing.

'In my experience, talking things through with a fellow sufferer really helps and I became involved with Ampersand Health because I wanted to help others through the frightening early stages of the condition.' - Teresa

As this is a peer support event, clinical advice is not provided, and the event will not be recorded. These community events are for people at all stages of the journey with their condition, so please keep this in mind when sharing your experience and advice. You must also join within the first 15 minutes to be able to take part in this event.

Please read the Code of Conduct Guidelines prior to joining the meet-ups:

❌ Participants should not:

- give medical advice or provide any diagnosis to other participants

- record the event on their own devices

- share the event link with others who haven’t signed up

- provide personal contact information to other participants during the meet-ups

✅ Participants are encouraged to

- remember that people are participating because they want to help people, or to be helped by people, to be inspired to engage with their health

- be helpful, constructive, patient, kind and not get drawn into any conflicts even if you strongly disagree with others’ opinions

- choose a call location and setting that is in a private area where there are no inappropriate images or noise in the background. We want you all to feel safe and in a confidential environment

- turn your cameras on, where possible, to fully participate in the meet-ups and as a courtesy to others trying to relate by sharing personal experiences

Disclaimer

Meet-ups are not a place to receive individual psychological support as there are not trained specialists present. The session leaders will not be able to provide mental health support and therefore if needed we recommend you consult your GP or other Healthcare professional to discuss these challenges.

If you feel you are at risk of hurting yourself or are experiencing suicidal thoughts please call a suicide helpline such as SAMARITANS (116 123), your GP, 111 or 999 in a crisis emergency (if you're based in the UK, otherwise please dial your local country's emergency line). If you hear someone express that they are at risk of hurting themselves please report this to the Ampersand Host by messaging them privately in the Zoom chat. We will advise the individual to access the above helplines or their locally relevant support.

About Ampersand

We are a social-impact focused company, meaning we aim to create a positive difference in people's lives. Through personalised digital therapies, we provide support to individuals so that they can self-manage their long-term conditions and improve their overall wellbeing.

About My Arthritis

My Arthritis is a free app providing engaging & effective learning and communication tools, to help you consistently and confidently manage your inflammatory arthritis condition.