Charity to investigate long-term effectiveness of self-management in arthritis patients
Self-management plays a big role in helping people with arthritis live with their long-term condition.
But can attending a self-management course for just six weeks possibly have any long-lasting effect - seven years on?
That's the question being posed by researchers at Coventry University in a new £16,000 study being funded by the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc).
The answer will be of great interest to health professionals and managers, as the Expert Patient Programme - the self-management scheme aimed at people with chronic conditions - continues to be rolled out nationally.
Previous research by the same team, headed by Professor Julie Barlow at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, showed that patients continued to feel less tired, more confident and able to cope four months and 12 months after completing the Arthritis Self-Management course run by Arthritis Care. The number of visits they made to their GP also dropped. Research has revealed that patients attending a similar course in the US had less pain and less depression four years later.
"Seven years is a long time, and for some people attending the course it might have had a profound effect in the way they manage their condition; they might have gone on to exercises classes or made lifestyle changes, or then again they might have drifted back into old habits,” said Julie Barlow, Professor of Health Psychology. “That's why the results of this study are going to be so interesting.”
More than 500 people with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis who took part in the Arthritis Self Management programme in 1996-7 are being sent questionnaires about their health and well-being seven years on. Results are expected in the spring.
"The need for a long-term evidence base becomes even more pertinent given the recent commitment of the government to empower people with all forms of chronic illness in taking an active role in their own healthcare," added Professor Barlow. “The government's recent white paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation recognised the important role patients play in the management of their own chronic conditions.”
For more information email info@arc.org.uk.
