Up to 45% of us will get knee osteoarthritis in our lifetime, yet it is often not prioritised, people with joint disease are being under-served in terms of delivery of evidence-based rehabilitation in the form of exercise and education, particularly for hip and knee osteoarthritis. Evidence suggests that exercise and education is very effective for people with osteoarthritis but often patients feel like they are directed more towards medications and surgical opinions, sometimes due to lack of available services. The GLA:D programme is a group-based programme that aims to aid these patients and improve their general health through exercise and education.

Dr. Clodagh Toomey, Research Fellow, at the School of Allied Health, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences and winner of the Presidents Excellence and Impact Early Career Researcher – Starting Award 2023 discusses her research and her group’s implementation of the GLAS:D programme with collaborators, Ian Dowling, a Chartered Physiotherapist working in private practice from his clinic based in Raheen, Limerick, Ian retired from professional rugby after suffering a hip injury while playing for Munster. Also joining is Stacey Grealis, who lives with Rheumatic Muscular Disease and is a patient researcher and patient contributor on numerous research projects in this field.

Recorded by GKMedia.ie