Advocacy

Children living with juvenile arthritis and other rheumatic diseases can face delays in diagnosis, limited access to specialized care, challenges at school, and gaps in treatment and support.

Advocacy helps bring these issues forward. By combining lived experience, research, and the expertise of healthcare professionals, Cassie + Friends works to raise awareness and encourage meaningful change for families across Canada.

Our advocacy efforts help to:

• Improve access to timely pediatric rheumatology care
• Raise awareness of juvenile arthritis and other rheumatic diseases
• Bring youth and family perspectives into important conversations
• Highlight gaps in care, treatment, and support
• Encourage decision-makers to prioritize the needs of children and families
• Build momentum for stronger research, resources, and health outcomes

Families and youth understand the realities of pediatric rheumatic disease in ways that statistics alone cannot show.

By sharing stories, participating in research, speaking with healthcare leaders, and helping identify gaps in care, patients and families can help influence priorities and create change that reflects real-world needs.

Cassie + Friends works to create opportunities for these voices to be heard — locally, nationally, and wherever important decisions about pediatric rheumatology are being made.

For children living with juvenile arthritis and other rheumatic diseases, delays in diagnosis and treatment can have lasting consequences.

#KidsCantWait is Cassie + Friends’ advocacy campaign focused on raising awareness of the urgent need for timely access to pediatric rheumatology care across Canada.

The campaign brings together families, healthcare professionals, researchers, and supporters to highlight gaps in care and call for meaningful action.

By sharing evidence, lived experience, and the realities facing families, #KidsCantWait helps ensure that pediatric rheumatic disease remains part of the national conversation about children’s health.

Advocacy can take many forms. Sometimes it means sharing a personal story. Sometimes it means bringing families, researchers, and healthcare professionals together around a common issue.

Cassie + Friends supports advocacy through:

• Public awareness and education
• Youth and family engagement
• Research partnerships and patient-informed research
• Collaboration with pediatric rheumatology teams
• Campaigns focused on access to care
• Community and government outreach
• Sharing the experiences of children and families across Canada

Together, these efforts help build greater understanding of pediatric rheumatic disease and strengthen the case for better resources, research, and care.

Whether you are a young person living with rheumatic disease, a parent, healthcare professional, researcher, educator, or supporter, you can help create change.

Ways to get involved include:

• Share your story
• Raise awareness in your school or community
• Participate in research
• Support advocacy campaigns
• Help amplify youth and family voices
• Connect with Cassie + Friends to learn about current opportunities

Every voice helps build greater awareness and a stronger future for children and families affected by rheumatic disease.

Advocacy does not always mean meeting with government or speaking publicly. There are many ways to help amplify the voices of children, youth, and families affected by juvenile arthritis and other rheumatic diseases.

No child should have to wait for a diagnosis. No family should have to navigate this alone.
With greater awareness, stronger support, and continued action, we can change what the future looks like for kids living with juvenile arthritis.