Biography of Founder
Dr Carrie Britton
PhD., MSc., Dip. C.O.T., S.R.O.T.,

Carrie qualified as an Occupational Therapist at the College of Occupational Therapy (Liverpool) Ltd. She won the Pioneer prize for her research proposal and completed her MSc in Rehabilitation Studies at the University of Southampton in 1986. While working for Worthing Health Authority she piloted a new Rheumatology Occupational Therapy Service that was research-based, incorporating an education programme for people with arthritis and their partners.

While on maternity leave with her second daughter, her elder daughter, than aged two years, was diagnosed with severe systemic onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. During the first period of stable disease, Carrie embarked on a PhD research study to explore the experiences of 46 other families of children with arthritis who attended Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London. The thesis '"Families' Experience of the Management of Juvenile Arthritis In the Home: Views from the Inside" was completed in February 2002 at the University of Brighton. (Peer reviewed articles are available from the website from the 'professionals articles' page).

Working with other parents of children with special needs in the City of Brighton and Hove. Since 1994 Carrie worked as a member of the management team of a parent-lead charity AMAZE. She was one of a small group of parents who contributed to an information handbook 'Through the Maze', which was highlighted as an example of outstanding good practice by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2000. She and another mother were jointly elected to join Brighton and Hove Education Authority Task Group forming the City's Special Educational Needs Policy. She set up CHOICES in 2002, and has distributed over 6,500 copies of her award winning handbook 'Kids with arthritis - a guide for families'. The websites are visited by 1200 people each week, and hundreds of pages of factsheets are downloaded each month. CHOICES won the Charity of the Year 2005 from the Argus Achievement Awards.

She continues to use her combined clinical, research and personal experience to represent families of children with complex and long term health needs within the Children' Trust redesign and review process. She is an honorary Research Fellow at the University of Brighton and attends the Brighton and Hove City Teaching PCT Board as a Patient and Public Involvement Forum Co-chair and in actively involved in the inspection and monitoring of the commissioned NHS services.

Carrie now speaks home and abroad about families' experiences and works with many national groups to improve the design, delivery and standards of services for families of children with chronic long term illness, particularly juvenile arthritis.