Canadian Association of Psoriasis Patients

Rachael Manion,
Executive Director, Canadian Skin Patient Alliance

The Canadian Association of Psoriasis Patients (CAPP) was formed in 2012 to serve people impacted by psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. CAPP’s mission is to be a resource to these people by improving their quality of life, raising awareness, providing education, advocating for better access to care and treatments, and supporting research. CAPP works in partnership with the Canadian Skin Patient Alliance to improve the health and quality of life for all people in Canada impacted by psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

Each year, CAPP recognizes National Psoriatic Arthritis Awareness Day (October 19) and World Psoriasis Day (October 29) to bring awareness to the experiences of patients and caregivers. We provide educational materials about living with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, available treatments, mental health impacts, comorbidities of these diseases and resources for kids. All medical information is reviewed by experts before it is shared. We have patients’ best interests at the heart of what we do every day and actively advocate to the federal and provincial governments about difficulties patients face finding specialty care, accessing treatments, and unanswered questions that need to be researched.

Through CAPP’s successful Studentships in Psoriatic Disease program, which we launched in 2016, CAPP contributes to research on specific research questions each year. The objective of this program is to connect with students in the early stage of their academic training and encourage them to pursue a career in psoriatic disease research and/or in medical dermatology. CIHR-IMHA’s support for this program is critical in helping CAPP attract students to the field of psoriatic disease research.

In 2022, CAPP expanded the studentships program to include patients and caregivers on the peer review panel and included training on patient engagement in research for Studentship recipients. This program has generated dozens of publications and presentations at conferences in Canada and internationally.

Please reach out if you would like to connect or learn more about our programs and resources.

Rachael Manion
Executive Director

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