None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
With an aging population and a greater number of individuals with modifiable risk factors for established chronic diseases such as arthritis, there is an urgent need for co-care management (pharmacological as well as non-pharmacological) of arthritic conditions. Patients with RA need ready access to effective self-management programs to increase patient optimize their quality of life, reduce the burden on the limited number health professionals in both Canadian and Australian health systems, especially in rural locations. A major issue in health research today is finding effective and efficient ways to exchange knowledge between researchers, health professionals and the general public, including people with arthritis. Facebook a popular social networking site which allows friends, family and business associates to connect with one another, appears to be best suited to explore as a KT strategy. Facebook has been shown to be a successful tool in recruiting and communicating with a research team, even in a multinational context. The use of Facebook as a KT medium to disseminate information from the bilingual evidence-based educational program: People Getting a Grip on Arthritis (PGrip) (Copyright) is a promising strategy to improve the health of patients with arthritis in an effective and cost-effective manner. The involvement of health professionals in patient education can allow patients with arthritis to be managed efficiently, resulting in reduced wait times for care.
Interventions
There will be five intervention groups in the proposed complex RCT. The duration of this study will be 12 months.
1) “PGrip (People Getting a Grip -RA (rheumatoid arthritis) TAS (The Arthritis Society) website URL link via Facebook Plus” (Group E):
Participants in the Facebook Plus (Group E) group will have access to a Facebook group page which will present the PGrip-RA Online program. PGrip-RA Online Facebook page will include video presentations of various effective RA self-management interv
There will be five intervention groups in the proposed complex RCT. The duration of this study will be 12 months. 1) “PGrip (People Getting a Grip -RA (rheumatoid arthritis) TAS (The Arthritis Society) website URL link via Facebook Plus” (Group E): Participants in the Facebook Plus (Group E) group will have access to a Facebook group page which will present the PGrip-RA Online program. PGrip-RA Online Facebook page will include video presentations of various effective RA self-management interventions strategies based on The Ottawa Panel evdence-based clinical guidelines. Video presentations will include narrated PowerPoint presentations with simplified concise instructions on how to perform/apply each self-management intervention and case scenarios illustrating the appropriateness and relevance of each. In addition, video presentations of practical sessions including a health professional describing step by step instructions while performing the evidence-based intervention will also be posted on each group page. Participants will have the opportunity to share their unique perspective on living with arthritis and how they plan to integrate the effective self-management interventions into their daily lives by posting comments using the “wall” tool on the Facebook page. Participants will have access to the online material after the completion of the baseline questionnaires to the final follow-up questionnaire at 6 months. Participants will participate in three separate self-management online modules over the course of two weeks consisting of 1) physical activity interventions, 2) wrist orthotics and foot insoles interventions, and 3) transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) module. A group of three trained health professionals, representing three professions (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and dietitians) from the Arthritis Health Profession Association (AHPA) will be asked to read the comments and questions participants write to each other and will then summarize and give feedback to the participants on a weekly basis. The Facebook page will be monitored by a health professional three times per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) during the duration of each module. At this time they will review all of the participants’ written comments and summarize and provide feedback. The total intervention period is six weeks. 2) “PGrip-RA TAS website URL link via Facebook” (Group D): Similarly to Group E, participants in the Facebook (Group D) group will have access to a Facebook group page (separate from Group E, without the participation of health professionals) and will participate in the three self-management modules over the course of two weeks. Participants will have access to the online material after the completion of the baseline questionnaires to the final follow-up questionnaire at 6 months. All participants in Group D will also be provided with TAS educational pamphlets on general self-management interventions for RA by posting a URL link for each on the Facebook page. The total intervention period is six weeks. 3)“PGrip-RA TAS website URL link via e-mail (No Facebook)” (Group C): A third online intervention group (Group C) will consist of individuals being e-mailed a URL link to access the TAS PGrip-RA) website. This website will provide participants in this group with the same educational information that will be provided in the Facebook groups. Individuals in this group will not have access to the two Facebook group pages. They will not interact with each other or the health professionals through written messages. Participants will also be provided with TAS educational pamphlets on general self-management interventions for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Group C will have to learn by themselves the content of the PGrip-RA module with no feedback. The total intervention period is six weeks. 4) “PGrip-RA workbook via e-mail (No Facebook) ”(Group B): They will be e-mailed a workbook of similar quality and content of the PGrip-RA program in PDF document and the URL links of the electronic TAS educational pamphlets on general self-management interventions for RA. They will not have any access to the health professionals and they will not have access to any of the Facebook group page. Group B will have to learn by themselves the content of the PGrip-RA module with no feedback. The total intervention period is six weeks. Based on data from our pilot study, we anticipate similar compliance rates. Only 1% of participants did not complete the baseline questionnaire and 20% did not complete the final 3-month follow-up questionnaire. To compensate for the proposed study, the sample size has been adjusted accordingly.
Sponsors
Lucie Brosseau
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
In order to be eligible for the study, participants must be as follows: 1) aged between 18-75 years old; 2) have a diagnostic of RA; 3) reside in Canada or Australia;4) without serious co-morbidities chronic disease e.g. cancer or other illness, judged by the patient or study physician to make participation in this study inadvisable;. 5) Medication not expected to change during the study period; 6) self-reported inactivity (30 minutes of moderate physical activity, 5 times or less per week) or not using physical intervention or agents other than prescribed medication, 7) no face-to-face consultation with a health care provider other than general practitioners or rheumatologists for RA in the last 3 months, 8) ability to access the Internet weekly and a functioning e-mail account during the study duration (6 months), and 9) no contra-indications to exercise without supervision established by the revised version of the PA; 10) be able to communicate in English; 11) not have participated in either of the two previous PGrip pilot studies and 12) willingness to sign informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
1) Not aged between 18-75 years old; 2) Not diagnosed with RA; 3) Reside elswhere than in Canada or Australia;4) With serious co-morbidities chronic disease e.g. cancer or other illness, judged by the patient or study physician to make participation in this study inadvisable;. 5) Medication expected to change during the study period; 6) Self-reported activity (30 minutes of moderate physical activity, 5 times or less per week) or using physical intervention or agents other than prescribed medication, 7) Face-to-face consultation with a health care provider other than general practitioners or rheumatologists for RA in the last 3 months, 8) Not able to access the Internet weekly and a functioning e-mail account during the study duration (6 months), and 9) Any contra-indications to exercise without supervision established by the revised version of the PA; 10) Not able to communicate in English; 11) Have participated in either of the two previous PGrip pilot studies and 12) Nt willing to sign informed consent.
Outcome results
None listed