An Online Learning Module From the National RA Society for People With Rheumatoid Arthritis to Support Self-Management of Pain and Flares: A Service Evaluation.

OBJECTIVE

Many people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have chronic pain and flares of arthritis. The National RA Society has co-produced a freely available online learning module with an NHS multidisciplinary rheumatology team to support people with self-managing these RA impacts. This service evaluation assessed peoples' self-reported knowledge and confidence in self-managing pain/flares before and after accessing the module, the extent to which they used the module suggestions, and how they felt the module could be improved.

METHODS

A survey was sent via email in March 2024 to the 500 people completing the module who consented to contact for feedback. Survey questions covered: pain experience/management; knowledge/confidence on managing pain/flares; likelihood of trying module suggestions; and free-text feedback. Descriptive statistics summarised responses. Fisher's exact tests compared Likert-type responses for knowledge/confidence pre-/post-module.

RESULTS

One hundred and thirty four people completed the survey (27% response rate), of whom 98% experienced pain in the past 3 months and 36% reported 'high impact' chronic pain. More (95%) reported being 'very/fairly/somewhat' knowledgeable at managing pain after completing the module compared to before completing the module (62%; p < 0.01). For managing flares, these levels were 93% post-module versus 52% pre-module (p < 0.01). Similar findings were seen for confidence. 90% reported themselves as 'very/fairly/somewhat' confident at managing pain post-module versus 50% pre-module (p < 0.01). For managing flares, these levels were 90% post-module versus 44% pre-module (p < 0.01). Most reported they were likely to try module suggestions.

CONCLUSIONS

This freely available online digital information about pain/flares was appreciated by people with RA and helped them deal with these common condition aspects.