Quarterly Newsletter – Volume 2, Issue 2
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In this issue
- Welcome
- Upcoming Events
- Stay Connected with Us
- Workgroup Updates
- Take Action Now!
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Notes from the Chair
The Osteoarthritis Action Alliance had a very busy and productive quarter. In April, We launched our small grants program for 2016 to increase access to physical activity for adults with arthritis and will be announcing awardees on July 15. Stay tuned! Many thanks to our reviewers for their time and effort reviewing this year’s applications. Also, we applied for two grants from CDC to help us continue our efforts to bring national attention to osteoarthritis over the next 5 years.May brought a range of activities in celebration of Arthritis Awareness Month. Each week, we highlighted the efforts of our Workgroups. As well, we hosted three Lunch and Learn Webinars: Dr. Yvonne Golightly presented an Overview of Osteoarthritis. Dr. Michelle Segar discussed How the Simple Science of Motivation can Lead to a Lifetime of Fitness. The OAAA’s own Kirsten Ambrose delivered a webinar on the efforts of the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance. Our Consensus Opinion for Best Practice Features of Lower Limb Injury Prevention Programs (LLIPP) was highlighted in the May issue of NATA News ( Read the article) to acknowledge Arthritis Awareness Month.
We grew and will continue to grow our social media presence. On May 17th, we participated in the #abcDrBchat with Dr. Richard Besser from ABC News and the American College of Rheumatology. The topic, “Arthritis in America,” was extremely popular and our tweets garnered over 26,000 views! Check out the recap here. On June 16th, we co-hosted #RheumChat with the American College of Rheumatology Simple Tasks on “Living with OA.” Please be sure to check out the summary of the conversation! Our #RheumChat tweets from June were viewed over 13,000 times. These chats are a great way for us to connect with the public and share our messaging and resources.
What else did we do this quarter?
- Joanne Kemp, PhD, Master Sports Physio, B App Sc(Physio) gave a Lunch and Learn Webinar in April titled “Femoroacetabular impingement: What is best practice physical therapy?” In June, Penney Cowan, Founder and Executive Director of the American Chronic Pain Association gave a Lunch and Learn Webinar on Learning to Live with Pain. All of our webinars and newsletters are archived and available to view for free on our website and on our YouTube channel.
- Our Honorary Co-Chair, Lennie Rosenbluth contributed a blog post about his experience with playing collegiate and professional basketball, and his life with OA. In his blog post, he offered words of encouragement to those living with arthritis and stressed the importance of being physically active despite having arthritis.
Our workgroups have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming strategic planning meeting in the fall. Their efforts are highlighted in the Workgroup Updates section of this newsletter. Many thanks for your continued interest in the Alliance!
Thomas Trojian, MD, CAQSM, FACSM
Chair, OA Action Alliance
Director’s Corner
Over the past few years, the OA Action Alliance has benefited from the hard work and dedication of our student assistants and postdoctoral fellow, whose energy, interest, and enthusiasm have been refreshing and incredibly helpful. I would like to take a moment to highlight their contributions and thank them!
Bre Heaberlin joined us in Spring 2015 from the UNC School of Exercise and Sports Science with an interest in injury prevention. Bre helped us grow our social media from nothing to a presence on Facebook and Twitter. After a notable collegiate career as the UNC Women’s Soccer goalkeeper, Bre is currently playing professional soccer for Turbine Potsdam in Germany.
Leigha Vilen first began working with the UNC Thurston Arthritis Research Center as a high school student and became a valuable part of our research study to validate the Arthritis Foundation’s Spanish language version of their Walk with Ease program, Camino Con Gusto when she enrolled in undergraduate studies at UNC, Chapel Hill. In 2016, she started contributing her growing expertise in arthritis to the OAAA newsletters, social media, and Workgroup efforts. We congratulate Leigha for her recent acceptance into the UNC School of Public Health Health Policy and Management undergraduate program!
Crystal MacKay joined us in Fall 2015 as an Arthritis Society funded Postdoctoral Fellow at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. She received her PhD from the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto and a Master’s of Health Science degree in Community Health and Epidemiology also from the University of Toronto. She is a physical therapist and has worked in the field of arthritis research for over a decade. Crystal participates on several of our Workgroups, updated our website with current costs of OA, and will present the upcoming Lunch and Learn webinar for July. We appreciate her international perspective!
Eleanor Hume joins us this summer during her break from policy studies at The George Washington University (GWU), that is, if you consider intense Chinese language classes each afternoon much of a break! In the mornings, she contributes to the OAAA newsletters, website updates, and activities of our workgroups and task groups, with special interest in our Policy & Advocacy Workgroup. We hope Eleanor maintains an OAAA connection when she returns to GWU this fall.
We have appreciated and enjoyed the enthusiasm and many contributions of all of our students and trainees. We welcome and encourage volunteer students – at all levels of training and all geographic locations – with an interest in public health, arthritis, or related fields. We encourage our members to consider the Alliance for their students who wish to complete a project relevant to their studies that links with the mission and activities of the OAAA.
Leigh F. Callahan, PhD
Director, Osteoarthritis Action Alliance
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OA Action Alliance Program Updates
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Upcoming Events
July
- Walk with a Doc @ UNC Wellness Center-Meadowmont, Chapel Hill, NC | Saturday, July 16 | 11:00am Free for all
- Lunch & Learn webinar with Crystal MacKay, PhD, MHSc, BScPT: Living with Knee OA Symptoms: The Experiences of Adults Aged 35-65 Years | Wednesday, July 20 |12:00pm-12:30pm ET | Register here
- Work Group 4 Meeting (Individual Engagement & Education) | Thursday, July 21 |11:00am-12:00pm ET
- Work Group 2 Meeting (Foster Communities) | Thursday, July 28 | 12:00-1:00pm ET
August
- Work Group 3 Meeting (Mobilize Healthcare Systems and Providers) | Tuesday, August 9 | 10:00am ET
- Steering Committee Meeting (closed) | Thursday, August 11 | 4:00-5:00pm ET
- Lunch & Learn webinar with Tom Trojian, MD, CAQSM, FACSM – Viscosupplementation Injections for Knee Osteoarthritis | Wednesday, August 17 |12:00pm-12:30pm ET | Register here
- Work Group 4 Meeting (Individual Engagement & Education) | Thursday, August 18 |11:00am-12:00pm ET
- Walk with a Doc @ UNC Wellness Center-Meadowmont, Chapel Hill, NC | Saturday, August 20 | 11:00am Free for all
- Work Group 2 Meeting (Foster Communities) | Thursday, August 25 | 12:00-1:00pm ET
- Work Group 1 Meeting (Policy & Advocacy) | Tuesday, August 23 | 10:00am-11:00AM ET
September
- Work Group 5 Meeting (Prevent OA) | Monday, September 12 | 4:00pm-5:00pm ET
- Lunch & Learn webinar TBD | Wednesday, September 21 | 12:00pm-12:30pm ET | Registration to be announced. Stay tuned!
- Work Group 4 Meeting (Individual Engagement & Education) | Thursday, September 15 | 11:00am-12:00pm ET
- Walk with a Doc @ UNC Wellness Center-Meadowmont, Chapel Hill, NC | Saturday, September 17 | 11:00am Free for all
- Work Group 2 Meeting (Foster Communities) | Thursday, September 22 | 12:00-1:00pm ET
- Strategic Planning Meeting | Thursday, September 29 | 8:00am-3:30pm ET
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Stay Connected with Us
Newsletters
We are pleased to feature several e-newsletters sharing the latest news about OA, research findings, events, our members, and our own Alliance updates. Subscribe to one or all and get news delivered to your email inbox!
A blog about daily life with osteoarthritis
In their own words…, featuring Lennie and Dianne Rosenbluth
“In their own words…” about life with OA from the unique and shared perspectives of our Honorary Co-Chairs, Lennie and Dianne Rosenbluth. In June, we featured an interview with Lennie Rosenbluth in which he stressed the importance of being active in spite of osteoarthritis.
Read the complete blog post.
Social Media
We have updated our website and launched our presence on social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook. We see social media as a way to share critical information to our members and provide the public with a better understanding of the work we do. Please like, share and retweet our posts and spread the word about our work and use the hashtag #osteoarthritis in your posts. |
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Work Group Updates
All Workgroups have defined goals and action plans to advance the mission of the OAAA in 2016. Workgroup efforts and progress from this quarter are highlighted on our website.
Interested in joining one of our Workgroups or task groups? It’s easy! You can choose to participate in work group(s) or on a task force or to follow up with us via email (oaaction@unc.edu):
- Workgroup 1: Policy & Advocacy
- Workgroup 2: Community Engagement
- Workgroup 3: Healthcare Systems & Provider Mobilization
- Workgroup 4: Individual Engagement & Education
- Workgroup 5: OA Prevention
Please note that you do not need to be affiliated with a member organization to participate on our work groups or task forces. |
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Take Action Now!
Whether you are a member or just a friend, we want to hear from you! Here are 3 ways you can support the OA Action Alliance:
(1) Social media. Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Check out our website and share our resources with your networks.
(2) Send us feedback and let us know how we can better promote your organization by emailing us at oaaction@unc.edu or fill out a short survey with your ideas
(3) Join an Executive-level task force to provide your expertise on Funding, Resource Development, Sustainability; Marketing, Visibility & Communications; Strategic Planning Management and Evaluation; Membership |
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