[ Music ]
>> Hello everyone.
Welcome. We're here today to share the results of our program evaluations
which include exercise, webinars, and workshops.
For those of you who have participated in our program,
you may recall having received an online survey that asks you about your experience
and health outcomes such as pain, fatigue, stiffness, falls, balance,
physical activity levels, and self-efficacy.
Today we have members of the PPED outcomes team, Titilayo Ologhobo and Bertilia Trieu
who will discuss the importance of collecting this data
and highlight how these programs are impacting you.
Please I would love to have you introduce yourselves.
>> Thank you, Claudia.
Hello everyone.
My name is Titilayo Ologhobo.
I am the associate director of outcomes at HSS in the public and patient education department.
I oversee the data collection and reporting of all public and patient programs
and ensure programs are impactful.
>> Hi, my name is Bertilia Trieu.
I am the senior outcomes coordinator at HSS in the public and patient education department.
I coordinate data collection, analysis, and reporting activities
that evaluate the impact of our programs.
>> Thank you both for joining us.
We get a lot of questions from our program participants
on why we collect data for program evaluation.
To start, can you tell us why it's important to collect this data?
>> Of course.
Thanks, Claudia.
At HSS, we are committed to meeting the needs
in improving the musculoskeletal health of a community.
We want to make sure that we're providing quality programs that help you
to manage your musculoskeletal conditions.
And for us to meet your needs, it's important to collect program evaluation data
because it gives us information on the impact of our programs
and how we can improve the effectiveness.
Data also tells us what kind of education programs participant need
to improve their health.
This will help us to plan future programs that will be most beneficial to you.
A process that we use to evaluate our programs
as a collaborative framework called the community-based participatory research,
in short known for CBPR and this involves active community participation.
We work closely with community members to understand their needs.
This then forms the development of intervention to improve health outcomes
and eliminate health disparities that exist.
Another piece of the CBPR approach is sharing the results of our programs with the community
and that is why we're here today.
>> Thank you for sharing the importance of collecting data.
Now I'm sure our participants are curious, how do you collect this data?
>> Well, with each lecture, workshop, and exercise class we send out surveys
where you can tell us about your experience in our programs.
And we also provide opportunities to join focus groups and phone interviews
where you can have more in-depth discussions with our team.
>> Absolutely.
But now I'm wondering why do participants complete the survey multiple times?
>> Great question, Claudia.
Well, several of our programs span over the course of weeks
or months like our exercise classes.
We ask our participants to complete surveys at the beginning and the end of each program
so we can determine if there was a change in their health outcomes.
For instance when you tell us your level of fatigue at the beginning of the program,
we can make a comparison to your level of fatigue at the end of the program.
Completing the surveys at the end
of each program also gives us a chance to check in on you in real time.
So rather than waiting until the end of the year to ask what improvements can be made,
we do this on a regular basis so changes can be made as soon as possible.
We also have participants who have been coming to our programs for years
and collecting this data helps us to track your health outcomes over time which enables us
to determine if our programs are effective.
But please note that the data's only tracked in aggregate
and we do not track data on an individual level.
>> That's great.
So as you know due to COVID, we pivoted to virtual programs.
How did COVID-19 affect the collection of data?
>> Prior to COVID-19, the surveys were distributed on paper
and in person after each program.
We also held focus groups in person but as we shifted to virtual programming,
data collection didn't stop but the process needed to change
and given the new program format, it was even more important to evaluate our programs.
Now we administer online survey -- we administer online surveys that are sent through email
to our participants and focus groups are held online via Zoom.
>> So we have all of this data, what do you do with it once it's collected?
>> Well, once we complete the survey, I analyze the data to understand who's coming
to our program, the impact the program has on your health outcomes,
and the areas of the program that need improvement.
Once the data has been analyzed, we share the results back
with the program team including your fabulous instructors.
As a team we identify what's working and areas of improvement.
For example from our survey data we learned our participants were interested in more programs
around managing back pain so in response we developed the new How's My Posture workshop
series focused on posture, flexibility, ergonomics, and core strengthening.
We also heard that there was interest in more programs around nutrition
so we developed the upcoming maximizing bone health and nutrients webinar in May.
To register for this program and to learn more you can visit our Eventbrite page.
>> It's so great to know that you're actually reviewing feedback from participants
from the surveys and making relevant changes to ensure our participant needs are met.
Do you see improvements in the data?
>> Yes, we do.
>> That's great.
Can you share some of the results you have found?
>> Of course.
From this most recent round of surveys which ended in March of this year,
our participants reported improvements in their health
since joining our virtual exercise classes.
For instance, participants' fatigue decreased by 5% and pain decreased by 4%.
We also ask specific questions about how pain affects different aspects of life.
Our survey results showed that pain decreased by 4% for participants' walking ability
and decreased by 3% for participants' relationships with others.
Another major finding from our survey is that participants' stiffness decreased by 6%
at a statistically significant level.
This means that the decrease in stiffness didn't occur randomly or by chance
but is instead attributed to participation in our exercise classes.
We also asked questions about exercise behaviors.
Through our surveys we found that as a result of our classes, participants we're more likely
to participate in vigorous exercise such as aerobics or jogging three or more times a week
and that their confidence to exercise increased by 1%.
But as more of you complete our surveys, we are able to show stronger results
so we encourage everyone to take the time and fill out the surveys.
>> It's so great to hear that participant health outcomes are improving.
What did the results of the lectures and workshop show?
>> Well, other than health outcomes across all of our programs we asked
if you have learned something, have gained skills to manage your chronic condition,
and if you are satisfied with the program, 9 out of 10 participants reported
that through our programs they have learned something about their condition and similarly,
7 out of 8 participants indicated that they gained skills to manage their conditions.
Program satisfaction is also high across the board.
Nearly all of our participants report being satisfied with our programs
and that they would recommend the program to family or friends.
>> Wonderful.
Over the past year especially with virtual programming,
are there any new findings from the data?
>> Well, in our latest program evaluations, we designed our questions to understand the impact
of COVID-19 by asking participants how they felt about this new format.
From our phone interviews and focus groups we learned that most
of our participants found the new virtual format to be convenient and easy to use.
We also heard more than ever
that our programming helped participants feel connected to each other.
For many of us, it was hard to socialize during the pandemic however participants shared
that our classes kept those connections alive
by providing opportunities to interact with classmates.
One of our participants shared the programs are a way to retain some sort of normalcy,
truly decreasing anxiety, and keeping you socially connected.
With the ongoing pandemic, we also heard
that these classes have helped them establish a routine while being stuck at home.
Another participant told us, the programs have helped me keep a regular schedule for exercising
and has encouraged me to practice Tai Chi Chih on my own at home.
Even so participants do miss the in-person class experience but we did hear
that the virtual classes are something they would like to see continue in the future.
Here on the screen we have some additional comments received from our program participants.
>> These are very interesting results.
So, can participants see their own individual results?
>> Well, in order to protect your privacy and confidentiality,
the program results are always viewed collectively.
This means that we average the results across all our participants instead
of looking at the responses of individuals.
Because questions are asked about your health status,
we take your privacy and confidentiality seriously.
After a survey, a phone interview, or a focus group is completed,
we cannot identify responses that belong to you.
>> Makes sense.
We get a lot of feedback from our participants that the survey is long.
Why do we ask all of these questions on the survey?
>> Yes, we do get a lot of questions about that.
HSS is committed to implementing effective programs.
For example, according to research, yoga, pilates, and Tai Chi are effective
in improving pain, stiffness, self-efficacy, physical function, balance,
mobility in older adults and reducing the risk of falls.
All the health outcomes we assess such as pain, stiffness, fatigue, physical function, balance,
falls, physical activity contribute to the overall musculoskeletal health.
We assess these outcomes in our surveys because we want
to understand the different ways our programs affect your health and well-being.
This is similar to the surveys you receive
or get in your doctor's visit or before and after surgery.
This survey is also called the patient-reported outcome measure, known as PROMS,
help your health care team understand how you feel about your health goals,
the care you receive, and your well-being and progress.
To learn more about PROMS please visit hss.edu/proms.
>> Thank you, Titi.
What about demographic data?
Why do you collect data on age, race, ethnicity, and gender?
>> That's a great question.
As I mentioned earlier, we use our data to ensure we're meeting your needs and for us
to address these needs, we need to be able to understand who is participating in our programs.
This data provide insight on who we are serving and what their specific needs are.
And on the other hand, the data also tells us who have not participated
in our programs allowing us to tailor new programs
that will help us reach a more diverse audience.
Also age, race, ethnicity, and gender are important factors called social determinants
of health that affect a wide range of health, functioning,
and quality of life outcomes and risk.
Understanding these factors enable us to implement tailored programs
to improve health and reduce health disparities.
Also, as Bertilia mentioned, this data cannot be used to identify you
or link you back to the responses in any way.
We are committed to protecting your privacy.
>> Thank you for clarifying that, Titi.
>> Sure.
>> Another popular question we get
from our participants is do they need to complete the survey?
>> No, you do not need to complete the survey.
The process is completely voluntary.
However, I would like to add that completing this survey provides you the opportunity
to share your feedback with us.
We are eager to hear from you and are grateful to those who have engaged
with us throughout our program evaluation process.
Whether it's by completing the online surveys or participating in our focus groups
and phone interviews, we always welcome you to continue to help us learn more
about what we can do to improve our programs.
>> If participants have more questions about the results
or the data collection process, how can they contact your team?
>> Sure. Bertilia and I will be available at each exercise class in the coming weeks
to address any questions you may have regarding the result and the data collection process.
You can also email us at pped@hss.edu if you have any questions
about the data or about the process as well.
>> Thank you both for sharing the results of PPED programs with us and thank you to all
of our program participants who regularly complete our surveys.
For those of you who want to share their feedback
on our programs, we encourage you to join us.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about HSS,
feel free to email pped@hss.edu or visit hss.edu.
For more content on overall wellness, please visit our HSS YouTube channel.
Thank you both so much again and we look forward to seeing you all in program soon.
>> Thank you so much for having us.
>> Thank you.