Usually patients go to family General Practitioner for advice. Therefore it is important that the General Practitioner recognizes the disease and begins appropriate therapy. The GP should take help from a specialist before planning a long term management strategy. This may be particularly important in chronic, progressive or deforming type of arthritis. A physiotherapist should form part of the term. In case of deformities, an orthopedic surgeon needs to be consulted for advice regarding the role of surgery. Medical social workers can be useful in educating the patient about their disease and therapy.

Therefore, a continuous team effort is required to effectively manage chronic arthritis.