Healthy Wealthy & Smart 353: Dr. Søren Thorgaard Skou, PT, PhD: The GLA:D Program for Osteoarthritis
On this episode of the Healthy Wealthy and Smart Podcast, Søren Skou joins me to discuss Good Life With osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D). Søren Thorgaard Skou (STS) (PT, PhD) is an associate professor at the University of Southern Denmark and Næstved, Slagelse, Ringsted Hospitals in Denmark. Soren is one of the main architects behind the implementation of the highly successful treatment program Good Life With osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D) for patients with knee and hip pain.
In this episode, we discuss:
-Education of physical therapists in delivering care in accordance with clinical guidelines
-Patient education and neuromuscular exercise for patients with OA-like symptoms primarily from the hip or knee
-The national GLA:D®-registry for data collection and evaluation of results
-The growing global support of the GLA:D program
-And so much more!
Translating the research evidence for osteoarthritis pain management to clinical practice can be difficult as Søren stresses, “Even though we had the evidence, the implementation was missing.” The goal of the GLA:D program was to bridge that gap by, “Giving the clinicians a toolbox to bring home instead of them having to read the evidence and then trying to translate that into something clinically useful.”
The elements of the program are designed to facilitate pain reduction in the short term and build new habits for the long term. Søren has found that, “The group based sessions are very supportive also for motivating the patients to continue participating.” In addition, Søren believes, “Education is key to the long term effects.”
For more information on Søren:
Søren Thorgaard Skou (STS) (PT, PhD) is an associate professor at the University of Southern Denmark and Næstved, Slagelse, Ringsted Hospitals* in Denmark. He has vast experience within the field of early treatment of knee pain and has been the principal investigator of three high-quality randomized controlled trials, one of which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the highest ranked of all general medical journals. STS is one of the main architects behind the implementation of the highly successful treatment program Good Life With osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D) for patients with knee and hip pain. Furthermore, he is a recipient of the prestigious Sapere Aude Research Talent Award from the Danish Council for Independent Research and several other research awards.
Resources discussed on this show:
Email: stskou@health.sdu.dk
Ewa Roose email: eroos@health.sdu.dk
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Have a great week and stay Healthy Wealthy and Smart!
Xo Karen