Denton Senior Center Arthritis Activity Group: Finding the Effectiveness of an Occupation-Based Community Group for Adults with Arthritis

Arthritis is a chronic disease of the joints that is the cause of disability for millions of Americans and those across the globe. It imposes functional challenges and hinders individuals from living as they desire. A community group was developed to help a diverse population of older adults with many forms of arthritis, including inflammatory and autoimmune types. The Denton Senior Center (DSC) Arthritis Activity Group aimed to improve self-management of arthritis symptoms in older adults. The program focused on three components being health education, exercise, and occupation-based activity and aimed to improve individuals’ participation and functional performance. The program spanned over nine weeks and covered topics such as energy conservation, exercise techniques, fall prevention, adaptive equipment, and more. To test program effectiveness pre and post testing was completed and included four standardized outcome measures. Five supplemental surveys were used to make the program specific to the population of the Denton Senior Center. Overall, significant improvements were seen in functional performance through the Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) which concluded 84% of participants improved in at least one self-reported activity by three or more points.