Research
Arthritis is a chronic, lifelong disease that causes uncertainty in daily life – making it hard for people to care for family, manage work, participate in leisure activities and more.
While research to find a cure and new medications is important, people also need self-care solutions to deal with challenges caused by arthritis in their everyday lives.
Researchers at Arthritis Research Canada cover the gamut of health services research, including practical research that helps people thrive despite arthritis. What self-management or self-care strategies work? What types of physical activity can help? What modifications or adaptations in the workplace or in the home enable people to live productive and satisfying lives?
Click the links below to learn more about some of this critical research.
Self-Care Research Papers
- How Does Job Insecurity and Workplace Activity Limitations Relate to Rheumatic Disease Symptom Trajectories in Young Adulthood?
- The Role of Occupational Therapy for the Self-Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Ethical Issues Experienced by Persons with Rheumatoid Arthritis in a Wearable-Enabled Physical Activity Intervention Study
- Advancing Patient and Community Engagement in Occupational Therapy Research
- Networks of Care: A Social Network Perspective of Distributed Multidisciplinary Care for People With Inflammatory Arthritis
- Experiences of Self-Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Individuals with Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Exploring the Associations Among Occupational Balance and Health of Adults With and Without Inflammatory Arthritis
- Perspectives of Persons With Arthritis on the Use of Wearable Technology to Self Monitor Physical Activity
- Appropriating and Asserting Power on Inflammatory Arthritis Teams: A Social Network Perspective
- Fatherhood Experiences of Men With Inflammatory Arthritis
- Patient Perspectives on the Challenges and Responsibilities of Living With Chronic Inflammatory Diseases
- Using Physical Activity Trackers in Arthritis Self-Management
- eHealth Technologies, Multimorbidity, and the Office Visit: Qualitative Interview Study on the Perspectives of Physicians and Nurses
- OA Go Away: Development and Preliminary Validation of a Self-Management Tool to Promote Adherence to Exercise and Physical Activity for People with Osteoarthritis of the Hip or Knee
- eHealth, Participatory Medicine, and Ethical Care: A Focus Group Study of Patients’ and Health Care Providers’ Use of Health-Related Internet Information
- The Role of Occupational Therapy for the Self-Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Decision-Making Around Vaccination and Other Public Health Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of Individuals with Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Accessing Telehealth and In-Person Healthcare During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of Individuals with Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Dietary and Lifestyle-Centered Approach in Gout Care and Prevention
- Partners of Female Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Reproductive Decision-Making
- “The medications are the decision-makers…” Making Reproductive and Medication Use Decisions Among Female Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Research by Topic
Diet and Nutrition
- Reducing Body Fat helps to Minimize the Risk of Developing Gout, Especially in Women
- Study Finds First Evidence the DASH Diet will Lower Risk of Gout
- Estimation of Primary Prevention of Gout in Men Through Modification of Obesity and Other Key Lifestyle Factors
- Keeping a Healthy Body Weight Key to Curbing Gout Cases
Everyday Activities
- Exploring the Health Benefits of Everyday Activities for People with Inflammatory Arthritis
- Using Cell Phones and Tablets with Hand Arthritis
- A Web-Based Interactive Navigator, MyArthritisGuide, to Support Self-Management in Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Developing an App Which Will Empower Patients to Self-Diagnose and Manage Knee Osteoarthritis
- Testing an Online Program for Managing Insomnia in Arthritis
- OPERAS Health Tracking: Tracking Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- The MyLupusGuide: An Empowering eHealth Tool to Support Self-Management of Lupus
Family
Mental Health
Physical Activity
- Preventing Complications with Improved Physical Activity: Can Self-Monitoring Technologies Help?
- Moving More Helps Mobility of Older Adults with Complex Health Needs
- The Falls Prevention Study
- Preventing Osteoarthritis After A Sport-Related Knee Injury
- How Does Running Affect the Knee Joint in Those with Osteoarthritis?
- I START: Improving Strength Training and Tailoring among people with Rheumatoid ARThritis
- Empowering Active Self-Management of Arthritis: Raising the Bar with OPERAS (an On-demand Program to EmpoweR Active Self-management)
Research Scientist
Dr. Catherine Backman, PhD, FCAOT
Senior Scientist, Arthritis Research Canada
Dr. Catherine Backman is Professor Emerita in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of British Columbia and a Senior Scientist at Arthritis Research Canada. (The “emeritus” title is a fancy way of saying she’s retired from UBC). An occupational therapist, she taught in the UBC occupational therapy professional program for many years, and supervised rehabilitation sciences graduate student research.
Catherine’s studies at Arthritis Research Canada focused on the impact of chronic illness on participation in life activities (such as parenting and employment), disruption in activities, and the effect of rehabilitation interventions. A particular interest was how people experience/balance life roles and occupations – the very practical implications of getting on with life despite arthritis.
