Table 3.

Dimensions of role facilitation

	Quotes
Work → arthritis (W → A)
Access to benefits	‘I [think] it’s actually enhanced my ability to take care of my arthritis because I have a lot of flexibility in my job and I have health benefits that pay for the medication that I have to take’ (SC: Group 5)
	‘You’re really glad you’ve got your disability insurance locked in … if I stop working for that company and move to another company, I maybe can’t get any disability insurance’ (FB: Group 2)
Financial resources	‘I have an income that affords me the ability to buy custom furniture [and] to take taxis … if I’m not feeling up to walking, things that [I couldn’t do] if I didn’t have a job’ (TS: Group 6)
Social interactions	‘If you get out and you like the people you’re working with … the social aspect of it is good’ (WP: Group 8)
Opportunity to be productive	‘Work gives you something to do so you’re not just sitting around all the time’ (AL: Group 2)
Psychological benefits	‘If I don’t work, I won’t be healthy. I will be depressed, will suffer, and will have no reason even to walk or do things at home – So, [work] keeps me running. The work depends on my ability to work and my health depends on my work. It’s a circle’ (SC: Group 5)
	‘They talk about working through the pain. Sometimes you have to. I guess there’s a whole range of medical reasons and psychological reasons … I’m not thinking about the fact that I’m aching. And probably an hour later, I won’t be aching’ (JM: Group 8)
Opportunity for physical activity	‘The fact that I have to get up every day to get out forces me, even if my knees are sore and stiff that day, to get up and get moving. And I know that an hour later they’ll be all right. They won’t hurt as much’ (WP: Group 8)
	‘I run all day. I’m on my feet the entire time … And actually that’s helped me a lot … It’s made my life a lot stronger than just sitting’ (MT: Group 2)
Personal life → arthritis (P → A)
Instrumental support	‘I’m really tired but I’m lucky I have good support at home. When people cook, I usually clean up but I give them a 60-minute warning call when I’m leaving the office to get that supper going’ (CB: Group 5)
Emotional support	‘I get a lot of strength from him, too, because we were only married about six months and he had a pulmonary embolism … out of nowhere … And within a year that man had done a marathon’ (JR: Group 4)