title: Evaluation of a community arthritis program in Australia: dissemination of a developed program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based arthritis education program conducted in a number of locations throughout the Sydney, Australia, metropolitan area.
  
  
  METHODS
  The program, based on earlier work, comprised 6 weekly sessions of 2.5 hours' duration. The study sample included 175 men and women with different types of arthritis, divided into intervention (n = 104) and control (n = 71) groups. Five outcome measures were selected to evaluate effectiveness of the program: pain perception, knowledge level, self-efficacy, disability index, and self-management behavior.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicated that the program was effective in increasing knowledge level (F[1,222] = 10.3, P = 0.001 at 6 weeks; F[1,108] = 7.8, P = 0.006 at 6 months), and a statistically significant difference was found in disability satisfaction 6 months after intervention (F[1,98] = 5.9, P = 0.01], but no statistically significant difference was found in pain perception, self-efficacy, and disability index.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This research supports some of the successful outcomes which follow an arthritis education program: increased knowledge level and increased disability satisfaction.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simeoni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stenmark
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001168:Arthritis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D015397:Program Evaluation