News Release

Altpeter Receives Grant To Study Delivery Of 'Walk With Ease' In The Workplace

May 23, 2011

Mary Altpeter, UNC Institute on Aging Senior Scientist, has received a two-year $100,000 grant from the Mid Atlantic Arthritis Foundation titled, "Bringing the Arthritis Foundation Walk With Ease (WWE) Program to the Workplace". An interdisciplinary team also including Leigh Callahan and Britta Schoster of UNC's Thurston Arthritis Research Center and Laura Linnan of the UNC Department of Health Behavior and Health Education will conduct a feasibility study to test how best to deliver and integrate the self-directed format of the WWE program within four small business worksites. The project will launch this Fall.

The following is the technical abstract for Bringing Walk With Ease to the Workplace:

The Arthritis Foundation (AF) Walk With Ease (WWE) program is available in two formats, group-delivered or self-directed. While both delivery formats of WWE have been demonstrated to be effective with community-based samples of adults, little is known empirically as to how best to deliver the program in the workplace setting. Our overall goal is to conduct a feasibility study that will allow us to build on the strengths of the self-directed format of the WWE program and to work collaboratively with employees/employers to test how best to deliver and integrate the program within four small business worksites.

Our specific aims are to:

1. Conduct formative research (interviews with key workplace decision-makers/stakeholders, focus groups with employees) to examine factors (individual, interpersonal, organizational, environmental) affecting the delivery of the self-directed format of WWE within worksite settings with employees with arthritis;
2. Use formative research results to create delivery protocols for the WWE self-instructed format for delivery in the workplace;
3. Use formative research results from worksite decision-makers to help develop workplace policy recommendations that augment the delivery of WWE and support employee efforts to self-manage their arthritis and maintain a lifestyle of safe physical activity; and
4. Evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of implementing the self-directed format of the program WWE coupled with related supportive policies in the workplace at each of the participating workplace settings.

We will work with four small business worksites of 250 employees or less (as defined by the US Small Business Administration) that are within proximity to our campus. This study will occur in two stages using mixed methods. In the first, we will collect qualitative data via key informant interviews with worksite management and focus groups with employees to tailor WWE program delivery protocols and identify policies that are supportive to program implementation and a supportive environment for employees with arthritis. With 1 out of 5 adults having self-reported arthritis, we expect to enroll at least 25 employees per site for the second stage of the project to participate in the self-directed format of WWE. We will evaluate participant benefits post-program and at 4 months via quantitative measures including ASE, VAS for pain, stiffness and fatigue, PASE and WALS, and satisfaction with WWE and related policies. We will also explore management’s ongoing capacity to sustain WWE programming and their perceptions of the impact of implementing arthritis-related policies.

Deliverables produced for this study include: WWE worksite orientation and recruitment materials; individualized evaluation reports of program benefits; worksite reports of aggregated participant benefits, effective program protocols and policies as well as lessons learned; and a report for the AF of strategies for bringing WWE to the workplace.