Understanding rheumatoid arthritis sufferers motivations and intentions towards exercise prior and post undertaking a five week exercise trial.

Participants will undertake an 8-week intervention that incorporates education, behaviour change and exercise. The aim of this pilot prospective trial is to determine the effect of an all-inclusive education, exercise and psychological intervention on motivations and intentions to exercise along with physical function outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis suffers. Participants will complete an initial 1 h assessment with a psychologist to develop and capture their intentions and motivations towards exercise. After completing the pre-exercise trial participants will receive individualised counselling (1 h per week for two weeks) from the exercise psychologist to develop psychological skills and enhance their motivational orientation towards taking up exercise to invoke positive health behaviour change. Counselling may be undertaking via telehealth or face to face depending on participant preference utilising a semi-structured presentation. Counselling sessions will target the participants identified barriers, motivations, goals and limitations to exercise identified by their baseline questionnaires. Following this participants will undertake a patient specific exercise test with 5 weeks of individualised and partly supervised exercise training and a final assessment in the following week (fitness and completion of questionnaires). Supervised exercise training will be supervised by an Accredited Exercise Physiologist in groups of five. Participants will exercise at a moderate intensity (measured via Borg scale). Face to face exercise sessions (1 h per week) will be undertaken at the QUT Health Clinics with participants also provided a home program to complete twice weekly (45 min per session). Prescribed exercises will include a mixture of upper body push and pull movements e.g. chest press and seated row, lower limb exercises e.g. leg press and sit to stand, balance exercises and cardiorespiratory activity e.g. walking and cycling. Exercise prescription will follow the recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine with consideration for the participants individual preferences, barriers and goals. Adherence and compliance to the exercise program will be recorded via exercise logs. Education sessions will be delivered face to face by the accredited exercise physiologist during the same weeks as the exercise sessions (1 h per week for four weeks). Education sessions cover the topics of pain, diet, exercise for rheumatoid arthritis and maintaining healthy behaviours. Finally, the participants will undertake a semi-structured interview (30 mins) on their experiences and thoughts from partaking in the trial. Outcome measures utilised in this study have been selected based on industry relevant practitioner based outcomes, exercise intentions, exercise motivators, patient specific function, activities of daily living and quality of life. All assessments will be undertaken by an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and an Accredited Psychologist will conduct the initial pre-intervention counselling.