May is Arthritis Awareness Month and the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance is excited to participate in this national campaign to bring awareness to arthritis. We have and will continue to share and promote the tools, resources, research, and events from our partners and member organizations to reduce the burden of osteoarthritis throughout the month of May and beyond. Each week of May we focus on a different theme to highlight the efforts of each of our five work groups to demonstrate the commitment we have to elevating OA as a national health priority to address the individual and national toll of OA. This effort includes the recent release of the Lower Limb Injury Core Component Guidelines, our announcement of our 2016 Small Grants Program to implement and evaluate to promote environmental and policy strategies to increase physical activity among adults with arthritis, additional Lunch & Learn webinars, and participation in the ABC News Arthritis in America Twitter Chat with Dr. Richard Besser, just to name a few. If you see our posts on social media, please be sure to give them a “Like”, a “Share” or a “Retweet”.
Our work groups, task forces and Steering Committee spent the past quarter developing a coordinated approach to prioritize the strategies and identifying activities that best advance the mission of the OA Action Alliance. As we move into the next quarter, we anticipate expanding our efforts to ensure the sustainability of the organization, improve our visibility and marketing efforts. increase the number of member organizations and the quality of our relationships with our members, and evaluate and highlight our successes and accomplishments.
We plan to keep you updated on our progress toward our goals as a coalition and keep you abreast of developments in our working groups and Steering Committee. In the coming months, we look forward to promoting our lower limb injury prevention toolkit, disseminating our resource library, strengthening our membership by recruiting new members with relevance to and interest in OA; collaborating with national and regional partners, raising funds for our small grants program, continuing our educational Lunch & Learn seminars, developing Executive-level task forces, and revamping our biweekly letter to connect our members with the most relevant resources, news, and events from all of our member organizations.
Thomas Trojian, MD, CAQSM, FACSM
Chair, OA Action Alliance
Director’s Corner
The OA Action Alliance has had an incredible journey in the 2 years since being transferred to UNC. We have grown by leaps and bounds in many directions. Our membership has more than doubled to 90 organizations. We have restructured the Alliance with a clear mission and broad-reaching goals. We elected a strong team of leaders to our Steering Committee and Workgroups and are operating effectively as a coalition aiming to impact the public health landscape for OA. We have expanded our e-newsletter offerings, revamped our website, and steadily cultivated a following on social media. We are excited by the progress of our awardees from the 2015 Small Grants Program and look forward to highlighting their efforts as exemplars for other community organizations to implement physical activity programs. Due entirely to the overwhelming generosity of several of our member organizations, we have launched our 2016 Small Grants Program and are eager to review this year’s applications in June. Most recently, we engaged Honorary Co-Chairs, Lennie and Dianne Rosenbluth, who have begun a regular blog to share their experiences with OA and to help us raise awareness for OA. We are extremely grateful for their interest and willingness to join our team.
Many thanks go to our Steering Committee members and the numerous representatives who participate on Workgroups and Task Groups, deliver Lunch and Learn webinars, and contribute to social media messaging as a means of raising awareness and growing the Alliance. The time and effort you volunteer is invaluable. Special thanks go to the CDC and the Arthritis Foundation for your support and partnership.
In the next few months, we will prepare for our second strategic planning meeting to build on the last 2 years and set our sights on the future. Join us in making a difference for OA.
On behalf of the OA Action Alliance, thank you for your continued support,
Leigh F. Callahan, PhD
Director, Osteoarthritis Action Alliance
OA Action Alliance Program Updates
The OA Action Alliance announces the 2016 Small Grants Program
The Osteoarthritis Action Alliance (OAAA) is soliciting applications for projects to implement and evaluate one or more environmental and policy strategies in the online Physical Activity Implementation Guide for adults with osteoarthritis in at least one of six sectors defined in the guide.
Physical activity is an important strategy for reducing the burden of OA. Physical activity is effective and safe, yet most adults with OA do not engage at recommended levels. Many do not understand or believe that an active life is within their reach.
To address this issue, the OAAA, Arthritis Foundation (AF), and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) Arthritis Program began an initiative in response to recommendations contained in A National Public Health Agenda for Osteoarthritis (2010). The OA Agenda identifies physical activity as one of 4 recommended interventions for OA and encourages expanded delivery of evidence-based interventions in communities and workplace environments and among individuals with OA nationwide. The subsequent 2011 report, Environmental and Policy Strategies to Increase Physical Activity Among Adults With Arthritis, focuses on the benefits of physical activity and ways to make physical activity more convenient and accessible to people with arthritis. KEY DATES
RFA Release date: April 1, 2016
Applications due: May 31, 2016
Awards Announcement: July 15, 2016
Project Start date: September 1, 2016
AWARD AMOUNT
$5,000 for project duration up to 1 year
For additional details and complete application guidelines, please visit our website to view the complete RFA announcement
Stay tuned for updates from our 2015 recipients, Associated Recreation Council of Seattle, The Texas State University Employee Wellness Pilot Program and Arizona State University and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Wellness Program.
The OA Action Alliance launches the Monthly Member Spotlight, Research Roundup Newsletters and Honorary Co-Chair Blog
In the past quarter we launched a series of newsletters to better meet the needs of and highlight the achievements of our member organizations.
Monthly Member Spotlight
We are pleased to have such a diversity of organizations involved as member of the OA Action Alliance. The Member Spotlight is a monthly publication that features a broad overview of a member organization, a short interview with an Alliance representatives, a set of resources and highlights upcoming events of interest. We view this publication as a way for our member organizations to connect and learn more about other members of the Alliance as well as to highlight the great work to which our organizations contribute to advance the mission of the Alliance. In the past quarter we featured the Athletic Trainers’ Osteoarthritis Consortium (ATOAC) and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD).
Research Roundup
The Research Roundup is a weekly publication that shares the latest osteoarthritis-relevant peer-reviewed publications, funding opportunities and current study recruitment. View the latest research roundup here.
In their own words…A blog about daily life with osteoarthritis
“In their own words…” about life with OA from the unique and shared perspectives of our Honorary Co-Chairs, Lennie and Dianne Rosenbluth. For the first post in March 2016, Dianne explains how “arthritis is like an unwelcome house guest. It shows up uninvited, but it’s there to stay.” Acceptance, an open mind, and a positive attitude keep her going every day and every year. Read the complete blog post.
For more information about our publications, feature your research, or organization, please contact our Social Media Specialist, My-Linh Luong at mylinh.oaaa@gmail.com
Stay Connected with Us
We have updated our websiteand launched our presence on social media platforms includingTwitter 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. In May, please use the hashtags #ArthritisMonth, #OAinMay and #SeeArthritis to bring awareness to osteoarthritis .
Upcoming OA Action Alliance Events
May
May Lunch & Learn with Michelle Segar, PhD, MPH: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Lead to a Lifetime of Fitness | Wednesday, May 18 | 12:00pm-12:30pm ET | Register here
Work Group 4 Meeting (Individual Engagement & Education) | Thursday, May 19 | 11:00am-12:00pm ET
May is Arthritis Awareness Month Lunch & Learn with Kirsten Ambrose, MS, CCRC: The Osteoarthritis Action Alliance–Who we are, what we do | Wednesday, May 25| 12:00pm-12:30pm ET | Register here
Work Group 2 Meeting (Foster Communities) | Thursday, May 26 | 12:00-1:00pm ET
June
Work Group 3 Meeting (Mobilize Healthcare Systems and Providers) | TBD
Steering Committee Meeting (closed) | Thursday, June 09 | 4:00-5:00pm ET
June Lunch & Learn with Penney Cowan | Wednesday, June 15 | 12:00pm-12:30pm ET | Register here
Work Group 4 Meeting (Individual Engagement & Education) | Thursday, June 16 | 11:00am-12:00pm ET
Work Group 2 Meeting (Foster Communities) | Thursday, June 23 | 12:00-1:00pm ET
Work Group 5 Meeting (Prevent OA) | Monday, June 27 | 4:00pm-5:00pm ES
Work Group 1 Meeting (Policy & Advocacy) | Tuesday, June 28 | 10:00am-11:00AM ET
Please email us at oaaction@unc.edu if you are interested in presenting during an upcoming Lunch & Learn webinar.
If you are interested in joining one of our work groups or task forces, please contact the Chair or Vice Chair of that work group (see below for more information).
Work Group Updates
All of our work groups engaged in a strategic planning process to identify prioritized strategies for 2016 and are currently defining objectives and activities to promote their work group goals and advance the mission of the OA Action Alliance.
Check out our website for an update of what each of our work groups has selected as their annual strategies as well as a list of accomplishments in this past quarter.
We welcome your participation and collaboration in prioritizing our activities for 2016. You can choose to participate in work group(s) or on a task force or to follow up with us via email if you or your organization have programs, campaigns, or resources, events that align with our organizational mission and goal groups. If you are interested in learning more about a work group or work groups, please contact the work group chair or our staff coordinator for the group. Program Manager, Kirsten Ambrose (kirsten_ambrose@med.unc.edu) will be working as the lead coordinator for groups 2 (Community Engagement) and 3 (Healthcare Systems and Provider Mobilization). Assistant Program Manager, My-Linh Luong (mylinh.oaaa@gmail.com) will be working as the lead coordinator for groups 1 (Policy & Advocacy), 4 (Individual Engagement) and 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.
Take Action Now!
Whether you are a member or just a friend, we want to hear from you! Here are four ways you can support the OA Action Alliance: (1) Fill out this short surveywith your ideas on how the OA Action Alliance can work toward achieving our 5 overarching goals
(2) Engage with us on social media. Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Check out our website and share our resources with your networks.
(3) Provide us with general feedback and let us know how we can better promote your organization by emailing us at oaaction@unc.edu
(4) Join an Executive-level task forceto provide your expertise on Funding, Resource Development, Sustainability; Marketing, Visibility & Communications; Strategic Planning Management and Evaluation; Membership
Notes from the Chair
