A new research training program at the Boston University (BU) College of Health and Rehabilitation Science is making a profound impact on the Greater Boston arthritis community. Funded by the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) as part of the U.S. Department of Education, the Center for Enhancing Activity and Participation among Persons with Arthritis (ENACT), now in its third year, combines clinical rheumatologic research, training, and community outreach initiatives. Life enhancement for people with rheumatic disease, as opposed to a focus on disease limitation, is the focus of ENACT’s mission statement.
ENACT is part of NIDRR’s RRTC granting opportunities, which fund one-of-a-kind specialized research and training programs across the country, each focusing on one disease or disability. BU houses the RRTC for arthritis, whereas for example, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago runs the RRTC for stroke patients. ENACT brings together the efforts of the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Communications at BU.
Julie Keysor, PhD, PT, associate professor of physical therapy at BU and director of ENACT, explains that each Research and Rehabilitation Training Center (RRTC) may set up its program a bit differently. “What we’ve decided to do is to implement a predoctoral fellow training program,” she says. “Some people who have the RRTC train clinicians instead, or have different training mechanisms. Ours is geared at getting physical and occupational therapists, clinical therapists, and rehabilitation therapists PhD-level training so that they then can become rheumatologic investigators.” Dr. Keysor also notes that the NIDRR grant mandates that her group’s research be shared with members of the community. In the case of ENACT, outreach is mainly focused on African-American arthritis patients in the Greater Boston area.
Dr. Keysor says that since the program’s inception in 2010, it has received resounding praise from its community participants. “The consumer program and the consumer dissemination have been very well received,” she says. “People are really feeling like we’re making a difference in the community, which is what we want to do.” Dr. Keysor also notes positive feedback from the program’s four predoctoral fellows, who are training to receive their ScD degrees in research and rehabilitation science.
Aileen Ledingham, PT, MS, a practicing physical therapist and one of ENACT’s predoctoral fellows, says the ENACT program has been an invaluable experience. “The thought of being part of a research team with arthritis as the specialty to help people change their behaviors so they take on board the recommendations for exercise [and] minimize the disability that is so possible with arthritis was really the exciting part for me,” she says. She also cites the benefits of her program being nestled amidst the myriad resources and networking opportunities that Boston University and the Greater Boston collegiate community have to offer.
Ledingham is currently working on ENACT’s “Project 2: Can Computer-based Telephone Counseling Improve Long-term Adherence to Strength Training in Elders with Knee Osteoarthritis?” The team will conduct research over the course of two years to find out if a simple phone call can help patients stick to their rehabilitation regimens.
Dr. Keysor is excited by the overall enthusiasm from the community participants. “It’s a great group where you give them just a little bit of information, and then they run with it,” she says. “For example, we’ve been working with them on developing some walking programs for people who have knee osteoarthritis. We gave them pedometers, and they ended up developing an initiative where they took six million steps as a group over a pretty short time. They’re just poised on action.”
Michael O’Neal is a writer based in New Jersey.
