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PLE2NO self-management and exercise program for knee osteoarthritis

 

  • Starting date: 2016
  • Institutions: Faculdade de Motricidade Humana and Mobility Academy of the Grouping Health Centers of Lisboa Ocidental e Oeiras (ACES).
  • Funding:Municipality of Oeiras.
  • Principal Coordinator: Margarida Espanha

The program is aimed at people aged 50 years and over with clinical and / or radiological diagnosis of knee osteoarthrosis (unilateral or bilateral) referred by General and Family Medicine physicians at Paço de Arcos Health Center and other Health Centers of the Municipality of Oeiras. The program has two stages: supervised and domiciliary. The supervised program will last for three months, with two weekly sessions of 75 minutes each, totaling 24 sessions, followed by a three-month home program, followed by an equal follow-up. Three-month home-based program, followed by a follow-up with the same duration. In the supervised program a joint approach of theoretical content (educational component) and exercise practice (exercise component) is done.

The educational component is aimed at managing activities of daily living, symptom control and the development of self-efficacy for exercise, based on the Chronic Diseases Self-Management Program (CDSMP) designed by the Patient Center of Stanford University. The exercise component is based on the Arthritis Foundation's Take Control with Exercise program involving three types of exercises: strength, flexibility and neuromuscular training. In the home-based program a brochure with the illustration and description of the exercises and a monthly training sheet to record the exercises, pain and perception of muscular effort, is provided to the users. Alternate follow-up will be carried out through: (1) face-to-face sessions at the Health Center to clarify doubts and check the records, progressing weekly (1st month), biweekly (2nd month) and monthly (3rd and last month) and 2) telephone contact every week during the three months.