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News Releases
MU Researchers Seek to Assist Workers With Arthritis
Columbia, Mo. (Oct. 6, 2004) - Studies have shown that people with arthritis and related conditions have difficulty maintaining long-term employment. For example, arthritis is the leading cause of work-related disability and more than 50 percent of individuals with arthritis are unemployed within 10 years after their diagnosis. However, researchers at the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC) at MU are embarking on a study to help improve those statistics.
The study, conducted in collaboration with the Missouri Department of
Vocational Rehabilitation and with MU's Department of Health Psychology,
seeks to learn how to improve job success and job retention among people
with disabilities. Researchers are currently recruiting volunteers
between the ages of 18 and 60 and who have been diagnosed with either
osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.
"We need to determine interventions to assist people in accommodating
their arthritis so that they can remain on the job and earn a living,"
says George "Brick" Johnstone, the study's principal investigator.
Many people with arthritis and other similar conditions often can't keep
competitive jobs long term. This, in turn, affects their physical and
psychological wellbeing, self-esteem and financial status.
Occupational therapist and Co-investigator Diana Baldwin will study the
effectiveness of work-site intervention for persons with osteoarthritis
and rheumatoid arthritis who report difficulties in the workplace.
Researchers will measure outcomes in terms of long-term job retention,
job satisfaction, hours worked per week, personal income, public
assistance and health status. The findings of the study, which runs
through Oct. 1, 2008, are likely to help employers as well.
"This will benefit employers by helping them keep their current
employees-and thus reduce expenses associated with recruiting and
training new hires-as well as by reducing missed days at work,"
Johnstone says.
For information about this MARRTC project, call (866) 478-7460 or email
John Mahalik, Ph.D., M.P.A. at mahalikjl@health.missouri.edu.
The Missouri Arthritis Research Rehabilitation and Training Center
(MARRTC) was established in 1971 at the University of Missouri-Columbia
Arthritis Center. MARRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and is the
only federally funded arthritis rehabilitation research and training
center in the country.
As part of the MU Health Communication Research Center (HCRC),
MARRTC's mission is to become a national leader in the areas of
disability management and communication, improve the quality of life and
promote independent living among people who have arthritis and arthritic
conditions. MARRTC's core message is "Disability is everyone's issue."
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