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The “Osteoarthritis (OA) Prevention and Management in Primary Care” toolkit is an online interactive resource with custom-developed educational modules designed to help family physicians, internists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical therapists and other professionals expand their knowledge of OA, and give them resources to share with their patients.


The “Osteoarthritis (OA) Prevention and Management in Primary Care” toolkit is an online interactive resource with custom-developed educational modules designed to help family physicians, internists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical therapists and other professionals expand their knowledge of OA, and give them resources to share with their patients.

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UNC’s Leigh F. Callahan, PhD, is Director of the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance
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The “Osteoarthritis (OA) Prevention and Management in Primary Care” toolkit is an online interactive resource with custom-developed educational modules designed to help family physicians, internists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical therapists and other professionals expand their knowledge of OA, and give them resources to share with their patients.

“When the OA Action Alliance started forming its stakeholder advisory panel for this Toolkit, we knew we wanted to have representation from UNC Family Medicine and Internal Medicine providers to help us determine which specific types of tools and resources for OA were needed within those clinical settings,” said Leigh Callahan, PhD, Associate Director of the UNC Thurston Arthritis Research Center and National Director of the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance. “We partnered closely with the UNC Department of Family Medicine and the Division of Internal Medicine, in which there were many faculty members with a particular interest in OA, and they provided invaluable insights to help ensure this toolkit would be useful for the various professional audiences and their patients who will be using it throughout the U.S.”

The “Osteoarthritis (OA) Prevention and Management in Primary Care” toolkit provides modules including, OA Prevalence and Burden, OA Prevention, Engaging Patients in Management Strategies, Clinical Management of OA, Community & Patient Resources, and additional information. The free toolkit is available online at: www.oacaretools.org.

The clinical and editorial contributions of Drs. Thomas Miller and Shawn Kane were invaluable to the development and refinement of the Toolkit, and we appreciate their involvement as well as the support of their Divisions and Departments. UNC Thurston Arthritis Research Center (TARC) researchers Kelli Allen, PhD; Leigh Callahan, PhD; Yvonne M. Golightly, PT, MS, PhD; and UNC-Chapel Hill physicians, Thomas M. Miller, MD; Shawn Kane, MD, FAAFP, FACSM; and Amanda E. Nelson, MD, MSCR, RhMSUS also provided valuable clinical insights and content contributions.

The toolkit is endorsed by and will be shared through several professional medical and research organizations, the complete list of which is available online from the OA Action Alliance.