An evidence-based self-management education program for Chinese older adults with osteoarthritis of knee

Abstract

With ageing population in Hong Kong, the prevalence of osteoarthritis is expected to be increasing. The most common type of osteoarthritis is osteoarthritis of knee. Osteoarthritis adversely affects physical activities, social activities and quality of life. It causes socioeconomic burdens and has become a more prominent public health issue in Hong Kong.

Self-management of this irreversible health problem in the daily living is crucial to those elders suffering from osteoarthritis. However, no evidence-based guidelines on self-management education for elders with knee osteoarthritis have been formed. The objectives of this paper are to review literatures on the effectiveness of self-management program and to formulate evidence-based guidelines on self-management education for Chinese older adults with knee osteoarthritis.

The literature review showed that self-management program was an effective measure to improve self-efficacy for self-management and to reduce pain among the elders with knee osteoarthritis.

The assessment on the implementation potential of the self-management program showed that self-management program could be transferred to the community-dwelling Chinese elders with knee osteoarthritis and was found to be feasible for implementation in Elderly Health Centers in Hong Kong. The benefits of self-management program outweigh the costs for the implementation of such a program.

The proposed self-management program would mainly provide the elders with the self-management skills, osteoarthritis related information and exercise practice in group sessions. There would also be follow-up telephone coaching. Guidelines for implementing the proposed self-management program are shown in this thesis.

Implementation plan was formulated to propose communication strategies to initiate and sustain the implementation of the proposed self-management program. Pilot test was designed to test the feasibility of the program. Evaluation plan was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in improving self-efficacy for self-management and reducing osteoarthritis pain for Chinese older adults with knee osteoarthritis.

In sum, self-management program was found to be effective in improving self-efficacy for self-management and reducing pain among the elders with knee osteoarthritis. The guidelines on the proposed self-management program could support the evidence-based self-management education for Chinese older adults with knee osteoarthritis in Hong Kong.