K. Honne¹, G. Skaugvoll^1
1Counselling, Norwegian Rheumatism Association, Oslo, Norway

Background: Organized peer support is a top priority in NRF. Peer support means that people with rheumatism, who have learned to live and deal with their chronic disorder, help and support through phone calls and/or meetings etc. Even though NRF has volunteers working with peer support in all regions of Norway, the need for national peer support is evident. As a result NRF decided to expand the peer support service by opening a national helpline open to everyone with rheumatism and musculoskeletal disorders.

Objectives: The purpose of establishing a national helpline is to support people with rheumatism and musculoskeletal disorders. Even though NRF has peer support services in all regional and most local branches of the organization, many people dread contacting someone in their own community. They find comfort in being anonymous, which is what the helpline offers. The volunteers operating the helpline has information on what NRF can offer, they have great knowledge about social services and what sort of help people with rheumatism can get from the government, and most importantly, they know how it feels to have a chronic disease. In this respect people who have questions, feel insecure about their situation or just need someone to talk to who has the time to listen, can call the helpline and get guidance, advice and a feeling of being understood. The helpline is open to everyone who has questions concerning rheumatism and musculoskeletal disorders. Volunteers who have great experience from the peer support service operate it, and the helpline offers:
• Someone who will listen and take them seriously
• Someone who knows how and where to turn for help and advice
• Information about rights to social services
• Advice on work related topics and more

Methods: Volunteers operating the helpline have attended a 12-hour course lead by NRF, and sworn to professional secrecy. The helpline is open twice a week and is administrated through NRF’s head office. A phone system controls the calls so they automatically are put through to the volunteers on call. Thus volunteers from all over the country can participate. When needed, professional support is received from the rheumatologic division at Diakonhjemmet Hospital in Oslo. This joint effort secures that advice is correct and in line with what the governmental health services provide.

Results: Since the opening of the helpline on October 1st, 2006, the traffic has been overwhelming. Statistics show that we have received more than 120 calls per month. The volunteers have registered information on all the incoming calls in order to produce good statistics. These show that the top three reasons for calling the helpline are: Questions about a specific diagnosis, questions about their rights as chronically ill, and questions about medicines and medical treatment. The statistics can be broken down further and contain lots of interesting information, however, this will be saved for the oral presentation.