The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) and earthware are pleased to announce a partnership to deliver a new patient support chatbot. The chatbot will be available on the NRAS website on 26th May and help answer questions from its visitors.

Since the outbreak of Coronavirus, NRAS has been inundated with calls, emails and social media queries. This is a particularly difficult time for those with autoimmune diseases; the situation has increased people’s feelings of isolation, confusion and fear. NRAS is a lifeline to those who need support and help, and with a 600% increase in Helpline calls in the month of March alone, NRAS had to adapt how it disseminates critical information to those who desperately need it.

With this new chatbot, NRAS visitors will be able to easily find the information that they are looking for straight away, especially if it is a coronavirus related query. The chatbot delivered by earthware, will make navigation much easier, resulting in answers being found quickly and alleviating the volume of calls to the helpline, which is currently being stretched to its limit.

‘I can’t overstate our gratitude at earthware’s free offer of this resource in response to the global COVID-19 crisis,’ said Clare Jacklin, NRAS CEO.

‘Their profound sense of CSR is going to make a massive impact on people’s lives.’

NRAS has previously worked with earthware on the ‘Know your DAS’ app, which gave people the tools to help manage their RA and share information with their clinicians.

‘The team at earthware are delighted to work with NRAS once again, and to offer our chatbot platform to help them as they seek to support and reassure their members,’ said Chris Finch, Managing Director at earthware.

‘The COVID crisis has elevated anxieties across society but for individuals with health conditions it is an even more worrying time. Technology can play a role in alleviating this anxiety; chatbots are becoming a more widely accepted way for individuals to access healthcare information quickly and efficiently.’

The partnership is part of an offer by earthware to provide free access for patient groups and charities to its chatboss platform, in response to the COVID crisis.

The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS), is the only patient-led organisation in the UK specialising both in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Due to its targeted focus on both RA and JIA, NRAS provides truly expert and wide-ranging services to support, educate and campaign for people living with these complex autoimmune conditions, their families and the health professionals who treat them.

Their vision is to support all with RA or JIA to live life to the full with an underpinning mission to:

• support everyone living with the impact of RA or JIA at the start and every step of their journey
• to inform – be their first choice for reliable information, and
• empower all to have a voice and take control of their RA or JIA

NRAS mission statement: Changing Minds, Changing Services, Changing Lives for all those living with RA and JIA in the UK.

For further information about our offer of chatbots for charities, please contact us.