Alliance Updates	Communication Highlights
Congrats! We are excited to announce 2 additional grantees as a part of our 2017 mini-grant program to expand Walk with Ease: Reading Hospital Trauma Program and Farmington Valley and Torrington Area Health Districts. You can read all of our grantee profiles on our website.	May was Arthritis Awareness Month! We spent the month raising awareness and sharing the CDC’s MMWR about Arthritis in Rural America. Researchers found that in rural areas, arthritis affects nearly 1 in 3 adults. Read more about Arthritis in Rural America in the CDC MMWR.
New infographic- Reducing Knee Injury Risk with Neuromuscular Training The Osteoarthritis Action Alliance Lower Limb Injury Prevention Task forcedeveloped an infographic to provide evidence-based recommendations on key components that should be included as part of a neuromuscular training program for prevention of major joint injury to the knee in youth athletes.	We participated in National Public Health Week along with the American Public Health Association and others. This year, the theme was Healthiest Nation 2030. At the OAAA, we’re working toward this goal with a multi-pronged approach to preventing and managing osteoarthritis. In the process, we’re attacking all four of the recommended interventions for OA, from the CDC’s National Public Health Agenda for Osteoarthritis, 2010.
*NEW* As a part of our mini-grantinitiative, we have developed a Walk with Ease (WWE) Class Zero video that community organizations can use to help recruit participants to their WWE workshop and/or can orient new participants prior to the workshop start date as a “pre-workshop session.”	New Infographic- The Policy and Advocacy workgroup developed an infographic “OA as a central problem” that demonstrates the interrelatedness of Osteoarthritis prevalence with other aspects of its burden. Read more about this infographic on our website.
OAAA Lunch and Learn Webinars Fit and Strong! with Dr. Susan L. Hughes. Watch the webinar recording The Need to Explore Racial Differences in Biomechanical Outcomes Related to Osteoarthritis with Dr. Portia Flowers. Watch the webinar recording Lower Limb Injury Prevention with Dr. Cynthia Labella. Watch the webinar recording     Visit our updated resource page for community organizations where you can find implementation tools, marketing materials, and evaluation guides.	Social Media Statistics from this Quarter Twitter 51 new Twitter followers 95 K total impressions- a 10% increase from Quarter 1 2017 33% increase in Twitter engagements from Quarter 1 2017 Still holding onto an average of 3 likes a day! Facebook 254 Facebook Likes 12,238 people reached this quarter, a 50% increase from Quarter 1 2017 Doubled the amount of post engagements since Quarter 1 2017 LinkedIn We now have a company page on LinkedIn! Follow us for updates and add us to your work experience page. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel All of our Lunch and Learn webinars are archived on our channel. Subscribe to rewatch your favorite video and never miss a Lunch and Learn webinar again! Conferences and Presentations ACL and Lower Limb Injury Prevention task force presented at ACSM and NATA. The Alliance was accepted to APHA to present on our mini-grant program. The Weight Management task group was accepted as a level 2 partner for Obesity Week.

 Additional workgroup and Alliance efforts and progress from this quarter are highlighted on our website.

Notes From the Chair

From Our Director

This was an exciting quarter for the Alliance. Our third class of mini grantees funded with the support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Arthritis program began their projects. This group of fifteen grantees is expanding dissemination and delivery of Walk With Ease (WWE) in both the self-directed, instructor-led and virtual formats. We have also developed a Walk With Ease Class Zero video, fidelity checklist, and issue briefs for clinical providers and community organizations that are available on ourwebsite. These resources can be used by any community organization implementing Walk With Ease, not just our mini grantees. We will continue to develop resources and promote evidence-based physical activity programs for community organizations implementing Walk With Ease. As you may recall, we have previously awarded small grants in 2015 and 2016 to seven organizations in order to implement one or more strategies outlined in the physical activity implementation guide.

This year, we awarded 10 organizations initially. However, we were able to raise generous funds from OAAA member organizations to augment our CDC funds and, therefore, able to fund the three additional organizations in April and two more starting this month. This will allow us to increase the number of communities we can support through this program and, thus, the number of people with arthritis who can benefit from engaging in effective evidence-based physical activity programs. Another one of our goals for this mini-grant program is to expand offerings of Walk With Ease to a minimum of 25 states and I am happy to report we are halfway there!

As you may have seen, we recently announced a request for applications for the 2018 cycle of Walk With Ease Expansion grants. In this round, we anticipate awarding grants of up to $5,000 each, with a project period of one year. We are excited to hear about the innovative programs and delivery models occurring in the community as we review applications this fall. Thank you to our 2017 program supporters: American College of Rheumatology, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, Arthritis Foundation, Sanofi, Thurston Arthritis Research Center.

Upcoming Events

Take Action Now

Save