Despite what is known about being active, over half of people with arthritis are sedentary even when their symptoms are controlled. Several modifiable risk factors are linked to low level of physical activity, including low motivation, doubts about the effectiveness of exercises and lack of health professional advice regarding progression. This range of factors highlights the need for a comprehensive approach that provides support in terms of knowledge, timely advice from health professionals, and motivational support to stay active. Linda Li is working to overcome these barriers.
Linda recently received funding from Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute for her project, Improving physical activity using an online monitoring tool: a new model of care for knee OA (Monitor OA). This project is promising because it directly addresses a long standing challenge for the Mary Pack Arthritis Program – the long PT waiting list for OA patients. If the Fitbit/PT monitoring model works, it will provide a new and sustainable model for PTs to prescribe and monitor symptoms and physical activity for patients with mild to moderate knee OA. This study will build on the results of a study funded by The Arthritis Society BC & Yukon Division which is funding the thesis project of Linda’s MSc student Cam Clayton. Information from Cam’s study will be used to refine the study procedure for Monitor OA. In both studies, the Fitbit will be used as is, with no new applications. Because she believes applications need to be tailored to the specific needs of arthritis sufferers Linda also has pursued and received funding from CIHR for her project, Supporting Physical Activity & Reducing Sedentary Time in Arthritis (SuPRA). This project is timely in answering the call-for-action by the Arthritis Alliance of Canada to reduce obesity and improve pain management in people with knee OA. Linda’s team proposes to develop a new communication and social network application that is compatible with Fitbit, a popular wireless physical activity tracking device. This application includes two components: 1) the Activity Tracker will track patients’ activity level and provide on demand display that can be shared with health professionals for feedback; 2) the Health Club will provide a secured online environment for patients to form exercise groups, share tips and encourage each other to be active. Linda previously developed OPEN (Osteoarthritis Physical Activity and Exercise Network) which is an online interactive program that has a physical activity resource module. The resource module is a searchable map with details of, and links to, indoor/outdoor activity locations in BC; this component will be adapted and included in the Health Club component of this new application. This project combines the expertise of researchers from health, computer, and social sciences. The Graphics, Animation, and New Media (GRAND) Network will facilitate the development of future industry partnerships. Consumer collaborators, Ruta Cummings and Cheryl Koehn as well as health professional partners such as the Physiotherapy Association of British Columbia have been involved in this project since its conception, and will play a major role in future implementation after the evaluation period.
Linda and team hopes this use of technology will create incentive and support required for OA sufferers. Improving physical activity has far reaching implications, such as better mobility and quality of life, as well as a lower risk of mortality by preventing cardiovascular disease.