May is National Myositis Awareness Month! It’s a time for the myositis community to raise our collective voices and let the world know what this rare disease is all about. It’s TMA’s mission to support those who live with myositis and their care partners by bringing awareness, sharing resources, educating patients and the public about myositis diseases, sharing strategies for advocacy, and building a stronger and more connected myositis community.
This May, we have an enhanced lineup of free webinars and a toolkit of powerful resources to help you tell your story, support each other, expand the world’s understanding of myositis, and, in doing so, shorten the wait between symptoms and diagnosis. Ultimately, your efforts will also speed up the search for better treatments and a cure.
With your help, we can educate the community and the world!
Myositis Awareness Month Events
Tentative Schedule
May 1 – Myositis Awareness Month Kickoff with TMA Staff (virtual meeting)
May 3 – New TMA Member Orientation (virtual meeting)
May 6 – 2024 TMA International Annual Patient Conference scholarship application opens!
May 8 – Empowerment Clinic – Inflammatory Myopathy: Integrating Lifestyle Medicine to Optimize How You Feel with Neha Bhanusali, MD (webinar)
May 9 – Amplifying the Voice of Myositis Patients at FDA hosted by TMA and TMA Women With IBM Affinity Group (virtual meeting)
May 12 – Honoring mothers with myositis with a special release of our Maternity in Myositis webinar hosted by the TMA Women of Color Affinity Group on our YouTube channel (virtual resource)
May 13 – Registration Opens for Rare Across America hosted by The EveryLife Foundation and RDLA (advocacy)
May 14 – Disclosing Your Diagnosis to Your Employer (webinar)
May 15 – Myositis Symposium for Occupational and Physical Therapists hosted by TMA Southwest Florida (in person Sarasota, FL event for OTs, PTs, OTAs, PTAs)
May 16 – TMA Corporate Advisory Council (CAC) Meeting (invitation-only virtual meeting; learn more about CAC)
May 18 – Ask the Therapist for Care Partners hosted by TMA Care Partner Affinity Group (virtual meeting)
May 18-19 – Patient 360 IgNS Virtual Conference – Education & Support for Patients on Ig Therapy (virtual conference)
May 20 – Pregúntale al Doctor, con la Dra. en Reumatología Francisca Bozán. Presentado por el Grupo de Afinidad de TMA “Adelante” (webinar)
May 21 – Myositis Research Insights with Kanneboyina Nagaraju, DVM, PhD (webinar)
May 22 – Ask the Doc with Tahseen Mozaffar, MD (webinar)
May 23 – TMA Open House & Luncheon with Abcuro, TMA Office, Columbia, Maryland (in-person networking event)
May 24 – TMA Research Grant program Letters of Intent Due
May 28 – Raising Awareness Workshop: Explaining Myositis to Others (virtual meeting)
May 31 – TMA International Annual Patient Conference Sneak Peek (virtual resource)
Support and Affinity Group meetings ongoing in the month of May. Visit calendar for details!
Don’t forget to order your Myositis Awareness Month T-shirt!
Accelerate TMA’s impact in the month of May. Visit our giving page to support our mission!
Ways to Celebrate Myositis Awareness Month
Will you join us in raising awareness of myositis by informing your friends, family, and the public about myositis? There are a few easy ways to raise awareness this May—and all year round.
- Tell your story: Take every opportunity to talk about myositis to your friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors. Share the impact of myositis, your struggles and your victories. Check out myositis patient stories for inspiration. Whenever a larger patient group solicits from patients with chronic disease, be there with a story so that myositis can be represented.
- Post on social media: Use your social network to spread the word around myositis. Use hashtags #Myositis, #TMA, #TheMyositisAssociation. Like, comment, follow and share other patients’ facebook pages, instagrams, and tweets. Offer support every chance you get to build a compassionate and supportive community. And don’t forget TMA is on facebook, twitter, instagram, and LinkedIn!
- Collaborate with your physicians: Many myositis patients are first diagnosed and referred to a specialist by dermatologists, internists, family doctors, and nurse practitioners. Reach out to healthcare providers in your community with information about myositis, like that in TMA’s Physician’s Guide to Myositis, to help them with diagnosis and treatment. Tell your physician about the Myositis Tracker, a way for patients to keep daily records of their progress and symptoms. We now have a guide for dermatologists to identify some rashes on people of color, the Pantone project.
- Become a member: Join us as a TMA member to help you stay up-to-date and share myositis news, research, clinical trials, and more all year long. Plus, you’ll have access to our support groups to build your own myositis community.
- TMA can help: Find Patient Support, with all kinds of tips; our library of educational materials, and our growing collection of infographics.
- Contribute: Love what The Myositis Association does? Make a gift, either directly to TMA, or through one of the many campaigns initiated by TMA members, to help advance our mission and ongoing education efforts.
See how TMA Members have celebrate in the past!
Community Awareness:
- Holly Jones, TMA Community Member
- Marianne Moyer, TMA Community Member
- Pat & Kim Murray, TMA Community Members
- Vance Robinson, TMA Community Member
A Patient’s Story
- Lisa Motley, TMA Community Member
- Michael Kerin (Myositis Mike), TMA Community Member
- Dave Mochel, TMA Community Member
Physician’s Perspective
Spread the Word on Social Media
Use your social network to show your support and help us spread the word. Download and share our social media resources to amplify the stories of those living with myositis and their loved ones and educate your friends and family.
Download Your Social Media Graphics
Helpful Awareness Resources
To get an overview of what myositis is and what it can entail, take a look at the following resources before getting started with your awareness campaign. You might even share these resources with physicians and other professionals through your outreach.
- About Myositis and Diagnosis
- The TMA Myositis Library
- Myositis 101: Your Guide to Understanding Myositis
- The Physician’s Guide to Myositis
- TMA Infographics
Get Involved
Thank you for your help and support in raising awareness for myositis. If you have any questions about what you can do to help or need additional resources, please do not hesitate to contact our team. We’re always happy to help however we can.