Abstract

Having fibromyalgia greatly impacts person's mental and physical wellbeing, his activities of daily living, and the society at large. Despite scientific progress to unravel the aetiology of fibromyalgia syndrome, no cure is yet available. The management of fibromyalgia comprises both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment option to alleviate the symptom burden of the disease. The recently published EULAR revised recommendations for the management of fibromyalgia¹, proposes that the management of fibromyalgia should take the form of a graduated approach with the aim of improving health-related quality of life. It should focus first on non-pharmacological treatment, including education, self-management and physical therapy with graded physical exercises. In this talk a brief overview of the current evidence regarding non-pharmacological care in fibromyalgia will be given. The importance of patients' self-management, (tailored) interventions to support self-management, and its dissemination and implementation in clinical practice will be highlighted.