An innovative mentoring program, which hopes to pair up patients for guidance on managing osteoarthritis (OA), has highlighted the difficulties in accessing best-practice care like education and exercise plans.
The project, called ‘OA Champions’, is led by University of SA Associate Professor Tasha Stanton and received funding in The Hospital Research Foundation Group’s ‘Ageing Well’ grant round last year.
It aims to connect people with OA that are seeking advice and support, with mentors who can offer guidance having successfully managed their own OA.
OA Champions is being co-designed with direct input from people with lived experience of OA through a series of workshops.
Monique Wilson, a PhD candidate and contributor to the project, said the workshop feedback showed a clear gap in care for people with OA.
“These insights highlight the need for additional support and information, whereby peer mentorship offers an accessible and approachable option to fill that gap,” she said.
“We are now beginning to explore what the peer mentorship program might look like, including the frequency and type of contact, mentor training processes and necessary toolkits.”
Three workshops have been held in Adelaide, with a fourth planned for December.
Fifteen people with OA have taken part in the workshops and of those, only two were referred to an allied health professional to receive best-practice care, while one self-referred directly to a physiotherapist.
More than half reported feeling inadequately supported to manage their own condition, making it difficult to achieve successful results.
OA is one of the most common conditions in Australia and while treatments vary, lifestyle changes like education, exercise and weight management are considered best practice care as they reduce pain and improve function.
But accessing allied health professionals for guidance is not always easy, meaning patients explore other options like medications or surgeries.
The workshops also identified that emotional support was important at diagnosis, while motivation and feedback are needed during periods like trying new exercises and flare-ups.
A workshop was recently held in Mount Gambier to gauge how the program might benefit regional communities.
This information will be used to help shape the design of the mentorship program ahead of a pilot study in 2025.
If you are interested in participating in the first knee osteoarthritis peer mentorship program next year, contact Monique at [email protected] for more information.
For information about arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions including self-management, community programs, seminars, support group, you can call our free Infoline on 1800 011 041.
