Comprehensive care of patients with arthritis and their families includes primary care (consisting of medications, specialist and hospital care), community support services, and health education and prevention. Patient education interventions to help individuals self-manage their disease have been shown to be 20-30% as effective as pharmaceutical therapies at pain reduction and 40% as effective in reducing disability from arthritis (5). This results in decreased number of physician consultations, thereby reducing the cost of treatment for arthritis (6). Peer support is one form of patient education that may have application for arthritis patients. Components of peer support include emotional support, appraisal support and information support from a peer who shares common characteristics with the individual or group of interest (7). It is hoped that this support will help individuals with arthritis improve self-management of their disease, by helping them cope with their arthritis and become more active in managing their disease (4).