WWE Toolkit Module 8
WWE may be just part of your overall strategy to support persons with Arthritis. If you are interested in learning about some of other resources for planning and implementing programming beyond WWE, please check out the following:
- OAAA Physical Activity Implementation Guide
- CDC Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the US: Implementation and Measurement Guide
- Walkability Audit for Arthritis
- Arthritis Foundation
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- CDC-Funded State Arthritis Programs
- Evidence-Based Leadership Council
- NRPA Arthritis Intervention Grants
- NACDD Arthritis Project
- NCOA Center for Healthy Aging
- YMCA of the US: EnhanceFitness
- NC Center for Health and Wellness
Program Bundling
Offering WWE may be a first step or part of an organization’s larger, comprehensive approach to addressing chronic conditions and advocating for a lifestyle of physical activity for its clientele. “Bundling” is an approach whereby two or more evidence-based programs are offered sequentially. For example, some organizations have found that bundling the low-impact WWE program with EnhanceFitness or Fit & Strong! provides a continuum of increasingly challenging physical activity programs. Others have bundled self-management programs such as CDSMP, CPSMP and DPP with WWE as a way to motivate participants to increase physical activity, a key component of most chronic condition management.
Beyond Walk With Ease: Other Arthritis Appropriate Evidence-Based Interventions (AAEBIs) or Lifestyle Management Programs
The Arthritis Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promotes recognized, evidence-based programs that are proven to improve the quality of life of adults with arthritis and helps make them available in communities across the country. The Arthritis Program established two categories of programs that aim to improve the quality of life of adults with arthritis: recommended programs that have been proven to enhance the quality of life of adults with arthritis, and promising programs with evaluation data that are building the infrastructure to support program delivery across the country. Over time, promising programs may be elevated to a recommended status. These two groups of programs are further categorized as self-management education or physical activity. The CDC list of such programs is available here.
The Administration for Community Living likewise maintains a list of evidence-based health promotion programs for adults, some of which may be appropriate for adults with arthritis. Definitions, criteria used, and a list of ACL-approved programs is available here.