Work loss is a common and early outcome of inflammatory arthritis. This can have a major impact on people’s quality of life, and has a high cost to those affected, their families and society. In phase I of this research, we developed and pilot tested a novel program aimed at preventing work disability and helping people with arthritis deal with the difficulties they encounter at work. The program was delivered in a traditional format with a paper based manual and face to face group meetings. In phase II, we are converting our program into a web-based format. This change is in response to feedback from participants who found it difficult to attend sessions at the end of a workday because of the fatigue people with arthritis often experience. It is also consistent with current trends in adult learning, health education and self-management where eLearning is growing. eLearning will also make the program more accessible to a greater number of people with arthritis, including those in remote communities.
