Project 439822

Issue: Shoulder problems affect many Canadians yearly. While surgery is one of the best treatments for shoulder problems, patients are unaware about shoulder replacement surgeries, the exercises needed after surgery and how to safely recover from the surgery without having another injury. Uncertainties about the surgery and recovery process can further cause post-surgery problems such as: pain, anxiety and re-injury. While some healthcare centers offer an in- class program to educate patients before surgery, some patients face issues with distance or transportation, and cannot regularly meet their doctor to address all their concerns. Solution: Our project aims to create an online educational program that will teach patients through online videos and educational materials before they go into shoulder replacement surgery. By creating online modules, we can increase the accessibility for home use, and prepare patients on topics such as: their concerns about the surgery and proper exercises they can expect after surgery for a safe recovery. How do we study it: We aim to study two groups of patients before surgery; group 1 will receive the current in-clinic visit before surgery and group 2 will receive the online modules before surgery. We will monitor both groups on their recovery before surgery and after surgery over 1 year. Patients will complete interviews so that we can better understand their experiences and questionnaires/performance tests to measure their recovery after surgery. Outcome: We hope this will provide another alternative to informing patients before surgery. We hope to increase recovery rates and overall experience, but also lower pain and anxiety. The online modules will contribute to improving the care at St.Joseph's Healthcare Hospital and eventually be used for future care across other centers in Southern Ontario.