Arthritis Foundation
non-profit organization in the USA
The Arthritis Foundation is a nonprofit organization addressing the needs of people living with arthritis in the United States.
The Arthritis Foundation works to provide information and resources, improve access to care, make advancements in scientific research and offer opportunities for community connections. Nationally and through local offices nationwide, the Arthritis Foundation sponsors a variety of year-round events to raise funds and awareness, from local walks and runs to dinners, galas and other fundraisers.
Over the years the Arthritis Foundation has invested over $500 million toward medical research for more effective treatments and ultimately a cure. In addition, the organization advocates for changes to health care policies, legislation and government-funded research to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by arthritis.
The Arthritis Foundation is a major partner of the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) to improve health outcomes of children with juvenile arthritis and other pediatric rheumatic diseases. The Foundation has partnered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to accelerate drug development for osteoarthritis, as well as partnered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on advancements for other types of arthritis.
History
Founded in 1948 in New York City as the Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation, the organization's name was changed in 1964 to the Arthritis Foundation. The following year, the American Rheumatism Association (ARA) merged with the Foundation. In 1965, an additional professional society, Allied Health Professions, was established within the Foundation; its name was changed to the Arthritis Health Professions Association (AHPA) in 1980.
The public source identifies “Arthritis Foundation” as non-profit organization in the USA. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Arthritis, Foundation and non-profit.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Arthritis Foundation”, the useful work is to connect “non-profit organization in the USA” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4797637. VIAF identifies the subject as 132490260. The Library of Congress control number is n50001872. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 1964, 1965 and 1980.
Institutional narratives can privilege the records that survived while minimizing voices that were never formally collected. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
- Locating named record creators
Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Arthritis Foundation”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Arthritis Foundation primary sources, Arthritis Foundation archive and Arthritis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Arthritis Foundation”?
- Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
- What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Arthritis Foundation” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.