People who have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia are invited to join a six-week online workshop.

The ongoing study teaches skills for managing the condition to feel better, have more confidence and to increase activity levels.

"Lots of people are affected by arthritis, but we are reaching only a small percentage of them with current efforts," said the study's principal investigator, Kate Lorig, DrPh, professor of medicine, a nurse and longtime proponent of self-management techniques.

"We are not proposing an alternative to standard therapies but an additional technique."

Called the Healthier Living with Arthritis program, the free Web-based workshop will follow participants for two years to see how effective the Internet can be in helping them learn skills to manage their chronic disease and to maintain or increase their level of activity.

Any U.S. resident over age 18 with arthritis and an active e-mail account is invited to join.

For information, visit the program's Web site at http://arthritis.stanford.edu or call (800) 366-2624 .