The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Skype-Based Biopsychosocial Treatments Help Save Physical Therapy Patients Time, Trouble

Skype-Based Biopsychosocial Treatments Help Save Physical Therapy Patients Time, Trouble

September 19, 2017 • By Elizabeth Hofheinz, MPH, MEd

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF
Agenturfotografin / shutterstock.com

Agenturfotografin / shutterstock.com

It’s a bit ironic that when injured people are in pain—and their mobility is reduced—they are often expected to travel to a physical therapy clinic. For millions of people, such trips are a burden. In Australia, however, some patients are “letting movement come to them.” Novel research from The University of Melbourne shows that taking physical therapy (PT) and pain-coping skills into the home via Skype and an online program results in pain reduction and increased function in patients with knee problems.1

You Might Also Like
  • Physical Therapy, Exercise Advances for Knee Osteoarthritis
  • When to Refer Rheumatology Patients to Physical Therapy
  • How to Leverage Physical Therapy & Technology to Help Patients Stay Fit & Decrease Pain
Explore This Issue
September 2017

Kim L. Bennell, BAppSci(Physio), is director of the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine (CHESM), professor in physiotherapy at the School of Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, and NHMRC principal research fellow and director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Translational Research in Musculoskeletal Pain. Professor Bennell, lead author on the study, says, “Knee pain is a major contributor to global morbidity, and it needs to be addressed with innovative thinking. Our prior studies suggest that adding a psychological component to the physical aspect of treatment might be beneficial. And since it’s fairly unlikely that someone would be referred to a psychologist in dealing with knee pain, we decided to add a cog­nitive behavioral element to the physical therapy.”

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Using print, radio and social media, the researchers recruited 148 patients into the study, a randomized controlled trial. All patients were over 50 years of age and experiencing chronic knee pain.

Training the Trainers

Professor Bennell

Professor Bennell

“We worked with Francis Keefe, PhD, from Duke University and Christine Rini from University of North Carolina, who developed an Internet-based pain-coping skills training [PCST] program,” says Professor Bennell. They essentially took elements of face-to-face therapy and put them online. The program addresses such issues as low self-efficacy, poor pain coping and pain catastrophizing.”

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The physical therapists received instruction on PCST, and the researchers divided the study participants into two groups. The intervention group received PT, PCST and online educational material; those in the control group had access only to the online educational material.

The Study & Results

Each member of the intervention group received three Internet-delivered treatments. The first was online educational material about exercise, pain management, emotions and the like. The second was an interactive PCST program that involved progressive relaxation, activity-rest cycling, scheduling pleasant activities, changing negative thoughts, pleasant imagery and distraction techniques and problem solving. The third treatment was a series of seven Skype sessions with a physical therapist over 12 weeks (the same therapist on each occasion). Patients were also assigned a home exercise program to do three times per week. They were provided with instructions, video demonstrations and equipment.

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: Practice Management, Technology Tagged With: biopsychosocial, Exercise, Internet, online, Pain Management, patient care, Physical Therapy, Practice Management, Research, Skype, study, TreatmentIssue: September 2017

You Might Also Like:
  • Physical Therapy, Exercise Advances for Knee Osteoarthritis
  • When to Refer Rheumatology Patients to Physical Therapy
  • How to Leverage Physical Therapy & Technology to Help Patients Stay Fit & Decrease Pain
  • Online Treatment Reduces Chronic Knee Pain from Arthritis

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)