If you currently primarily see patients with arthritis in your practice and would like to be included in a formative research project, contact Anita Bemis-Dougherty, PT, DPT, MAS, APTA department of clinical practice, by Monday, April 1. You will be asked to complete a 20-minute phone interview with Westat, a research company, to understand physical therapists' (PTs) current knowledge, attitudes, and recommendation practices related to arthritis community-based physical activity/self-management education (PA/SME)  programs, and to explore communication preferences for learning about these programs.

APTA is working with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to inform a strategy to increase PT recommendations to PA/SME interventions for patients with arthritis. To do this, NACDD is working with Westat to develop a marketing strategy and arthritis educational materials to assist PTs in recommending evidence-based community arthritis PA/SME interventions to their patients with arthritis when indicated. 

Westat will conduct the primary research with the following objectives: (1) assess PTs' awareness of and attitudes toward community-based interventions, (2) identify messages that motivate PTs to recommend interventions to their patients, (3) identify preferences about the form of the communications and additional resources needed, (4) identify how to disseminate messages to PTs, and (5) develop recommendations for marketing strategy and materials.

If you have any questions, contact anitabemis-dougherty@apta.org.