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AMSterdam jOint Selfmanagement study

Chronic joint disorders are common conditions patients come to the physiotherapist or exercise therapist with. Conditions such as osteoarthritis and rheumatism cause problems in daily functioning due to pain and reduced mobility. Cure is often not possible, but promoting self-management can prevent exacerbation.

Self-management refers to an individual’s abilities to manage the symptoms, treatment, physical and psychological consequences and lifestyle changes associated with a chronic condition.

Exercise therapists and physiotherapists play a central role in supporting self-management in patients with joint disorders. The deployment of online applications, including mobile applications, and online platforms, aimed at promoting self-management (defined in this proposal as Behavioural Intervention Technologies: BITs) can support patients with chronic joint diseases.

Here, it is crucial that BITs match users’ needs. Moreover, using BITs to support self-management requires a different way of working from professionals and adjustments in required competences, both from the client and professional.

However, for many professionals it is unclear how BITs can be used to increase self-management and how this can be combined with physical counselling. Therefore, in this two-year project, we investigate how exercise and physical therapists can shape coaching on self-management through BITs.

The central question in this study is:
‘In what ways can physio & remedial therapists use online applications to coach patients with chronic joint disorders in the best possible way to increase their self-management skills?’