College Awareness Tour
Bringing Awareness, Education, and Early Detection Resources to College Campuses
Patient-Led Education for the Next Generation
The AiArthritis College Awareness Tour is an outreach initiative designed to educate young adults (ages 18-24) about AiArthritis diseases. Many AiArthritis diseases have a disease onset of 20-40 years old, yet young adults are rarely taught about early symptoms and may experience significant barriers that can delay diagnosis.
With a focus on young adults and communities of color, this program aims to address critical gaps in early detection by tackling cultural barriers, healthcare distrust, and access challenges.
AiArthritis launched the tour in 2025, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from students and faculty across six colleges in Southern and Northern California. Through interactive campus presentations, student organization partnerships, and culturally responsive discussions, the College Awareness Tour brings patient-led education directly to students.
By connecting students with trusted resources, real patient experiences, and a safe space to share their challenges, we are working to rebuild trust in symptoms, expedite diagnosis, encourage self-advocacy, and improve the patient journey for the next generation.
Student Insight:
Barriers to Care
“...the financial worries of, if I go to the doctor, then it’s more of a problem than what I came in for, and it’s just too much of a stress to worry about it.”
-- Kinesiology Student from San Francisco State University
Empowering Lives Through Knowledge
2025 Impact
The College Awareness Tour is already demonstrating measurable impact after its inaugural year. This first-year success established strong campus partnerships, elevated awareness among diverse cultural groups, and laid a powerful foundation for expanded outreach in year two.
By embedding ourselves into the heart of student life at campus wellness fairs, classrooms, and student organization meetings, we met students where they were and fulfilled our mission to bring awareness, education, and early detection resources to college campuses.
700+
students reached
20
campus events
6
participating colleges
100%
increase in AiArthritis awareness
What Happens at a Tour event
The College Tour Experience
Interactive Presentation
Led by individuals living with AiArthritis diseases, this presentation introduces early symptoms, diagnosis challenges, and disease management, helping students understand why early detection matters.
Group
Discussions
Students are empowered to openly discuss cultural, social, and systemic barriers such as stigma, mistrust of healthcare systems, financial challenges, and the difficulty young adults face when symptoms are dismissed.
Awareness Activity
Students co-create social media messages designed to raise awareness among their peers. This activity encourages students to translate what they learned into messages that resonate with their communities.
Cultural & Equity Focus
“If I go to the doctor, then it’s more of a problem than what I came in for, and it’s just too much of a stress to worry about it.”
-- Student participant describing barriers to care
Communities We Engage
- Communities of color
- First generation students
- Immigrant students
- Pre-med and health professional students
- Young adults
- Health educators
Barriers Identified by Students
- Cultural stigma around chronic illness
- Mistrust of healthcare systems
- Language barriers
- Family pressure
- Insurance and financial barriers
- Fear of being judged or dismissed by providers
Student Insight:
Cultural Stigmas
“If you grew up with a distrust of the healthcare industry like a lot of families, especially in those communities (Asian, Latino, Black), it would be really difficult approaching healthcare physicians about something like that.”
-- Student, San Diego State University's Student Nutrition Organization
Support the Future of the AiArthritis College Awareness Tour
With continued support, we can ensure that more students receive critical education about AiArthritis diseases and that more healthcare providers recognize the early signs in young adults. This initiative has the potential to improve early detection, reduce diagnostic delays, and empower individuals to take control of their health.
How You Can Help Expand This Initiative
While we are actively working to continue the tour in 2026, additional support is needed to continue and expand this initiative. Future funding will allow us to:
- Expand to More Colleges Nationwide: Reaching additional universities with large underrepresented student populations.
- Enhance Educational Tools: Developing culturally tailored resources for student health centers, primary care offices, and frontline healthcare providers.
- Increase Community Engagement: Expanding partnerships with pre-med, nursing, public health, and physical therapy programs to improve provider knowledge.
- Scale Social Media Impact:
Strengthening student-led social media campaigns to ensure long-term digital engagement.
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
The College Awareness Tour was made possible with support from J&J Foundation and Bristol Myers Squibb.