Being physically active has been shown to reduce pain and fatigue, improve mobility and enhance quality of life in people with arthritis, but adherence to an active lifestyle is poor with less than half of people with arthritis being active.
To address this challenge, we have developed a physical activity counselling program to help people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to be more physically active in a safe way. The program involves:
- A group education session on physical activity
- The use of a Fitbit wrist band
- Telephone counselling by a registered physiotherapist using a new Fitbit compatible web app, called FitViz
To test if the new web application is user friendly and easy to navigate, we will recruit 10 participants with RA or SLE to conduct a pilot study for a 1-month duration. Participants in the pilot study will start the program right away, which includes attending a group education session, using the Fitbit wrist band with the new application FitViz, and receiving telephone counselling from a physiotherapist.
Participants will also be asked to complete online questionnaires and wear an armband accelerometer for 7 days at the beginning and end of 1 month. They will be interviewed at the end about their experience with the FitViz application.
For more information, please click here.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Linda Li
Co-Investigators
Lynne Feehan, Fraser Health
Antonio Aviña-Zubeita, University of British Columbia
Anne Townsend, University of British Columbia
Catherine Backman, University of British Columbia
Eli Puterman, University of British Columbia
Nick Bansback, University of British Columbia
Diane Gromala, Simon Fraser University
Chris Shaw, Simon Fraser University
Collaborators
Greg Noonan, Mary Pack Arthritis Program
Paul Adam, Mary Pack Arthritis Program
Dr. Leigh Callahan, Thurston Arthritis Research Center
Pam Montie, Arthritis Patient Advisory Board
Cherly Koehn, Arthritis Consumer Experts
Dr. John Esdaile, University of British Columbia, Arthritis Research Canada
Dr. Kam Shojania, University of British Columbia, Arthritis Research Canada
Dr. David Collins, University of British Columbia
Dr. Jason Kur, Pacific Arthritis Centre
Dr. Jennifer Reynolds, Vancouver General Hospital
Dr. Ken Blocka, University of British Columbia
Dr. Shahin Jamal, University of British Columbia