Access PACE-OA Primary Care Pathway (WAITING FOR LINK)
About the PACE-OA Initiative
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a slowly progressive chronic condition that is associated with aging and is characterized as joint pain. Individuals with early-stage OA usually do not seek medical attention. If and when they do, patients more often present to a pharmacy for over-the-counter medications.
We want to leverage community pharmacists’ accessibility and scope of practice to best support patients with early knee OA. Given there are no disease-modifying treatments for OA, treatment guidelines center on patient education, self-management, and exercise, with medications playing a supporting role. Self-management is an effective strategy that provides a solid foundation for managing this progressive chronic condition and health care professionals like physiotherapists and pharmacists can help with the development and application of these skills.
About the Primary Care Pathway Intervention
To support your practice, our team has developed a web-based decision-support tool, called Primary Care Pathways. Primary Care Pathways use a guideline- and evidence-based algorithm to provide individualized patient assessment, treatment, and education recommendations, and helps you document your care.
Resources
Visit the Clinician Resources page.
Contact us
Pharmacists, please email:
Dr. Ross Tsuyuki: rtsuyuki@ualberta.ca
Dr. Jill Hall: jhall@ualberta.ca
Physiotherapists, please email:
Dr. Allyson Jones: cajones@ualberta.ca
