Rheumatoid arthritis（RA）is a chronic disease with periods of flare-ups and remissions, affecting daily life. Therefore, this disease requires lifelong management. For better management, both patients and health professionals including nurses should understand patients’ disease process and associated life changes. Based on this information, health professionals are needed to provide the optimal necessary support and resolve problems when necessary.

  We report a woman with RA interviewed about her life and medical history using the Corbin and Strauss Chronic Illness Trajectory Framework approach. In this model, the reaction of a person with chronic “illness” is regarded as a course that changes over a long period of time, and the “trajectory” is considered as a course that can be understood when looking back at a disease or chronic condition. This approach has been proven to provide useful information for both the patient and the health professionals, allowing both sides to better understand the disease course and associated changes in daily life and psychological condition.

  This preliminary study focuses on understanding the value of different phases of the trajectory of illness and sheds more light on the relationship between the patient and the health professionals and how the disease process and patients’ perspectives can facilitate mutual trust and smooth future disease management. Implementing this approach is considered to pave the road for a smooth shared decision making and facilitates effective “treat-to-target（T2T）”.