Dear Colleague,
The ASHT Research Division and the Arthritis Foundation are embarking on a collaborative survey research project. The survey will include the Arthritis Foundation’s INSIGHTS, a set of questions about the physical, mental and social health of individuals with arthritis that has already been completed over 18,000 times. The collaborative version of the survey will also include an upper extremity-specific measure (a custom short form of PROMIS Upper Extremity) along with a few additional screening questions.
The target population is individuals living with arthritis who have self-reported involvement of the hand or upper extremity. We are requesting your assistance with survey dissemination to the target population. You can share information about the survey in several ways. 1) You can print and distribute a flyer to patients and family members in the facility as well as to individuals in the community. 2) You can email the flyer to the patient/family member 3) You may also directly approach appropriate patients and invite them to participate in the survey. A “script” can be found here that you may find helpful in explaining this project to your patients.
Completion of the survey will be voluntary, and no incentives will be offered. Participants will have the option to skip questions and discontinue the survey at any point. The consent form will specify that completion will have no impact on any care they are receiving or will receive in the future. The survey will be configured to maintain anonymity with identifying information (email addresses, IP addresses and names) collected and stored by the survey website in a password-protected database. The survey has no known risks.
The goal of this project is to gain insight into the physical and psychosocial impact arthritis has on our patient population and the greater community. In turn, this information will be instrumental in further development of resources, education and management/treatment for these individuals. We hope we can count on you to advance our understanding of our patients’ needs.
If you have further questions, please contact Nancy Naughton at nancynaughton10@gmail.com. If you have questions or concerns about this research project, please contact Karen E. Schifferdecker Dartmouth IRB Karen.E.Schifferdecker@dartmouth.edu.
Sincerely,
The ASHT Research Division
Script for Therapist to Directly Invite Patients
INSIGHTS Flyer