“MAP to MOTION is a first-of-its-kind tool that will not only capture key data points that will help people with bone and joint conditions create personalized care plans, but it will have a larger impact, fostering positive change on our entire healthcare system.”
Doing household chores, playing sports and carrying groceries — living everyday life — are activities that are dependent on the smooth movement of our shoulders. Even seemingly passive tasks, like working at a desk, typing on a keyboard or having a good night’s sleep rely on our shoulders functioning properly. Sometimes we only realize how important this musculoskeletal system is until we experience an injury or pain.
As the most mobile joint in the body, the shoulder is quite vulnerable to injury, requiring treatments or sometimes surgery to fix. Colleen Kuntze, a veteran physiotherapist with Access Orthopaedics, has seen first-hand the impact shoulder challenges can have in the lives of patients. From the weekend warrior with shoulder damage, to seniors with arthritis, to professional athlete injuries, shoulder injuries don’t discriminate.
Her expertise and deep knowledge have been an asset to the Shoulder Topic Expert Group in developing the Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute’s MAP to MOTION initiative. In addition, she is the co-lead of the Alberta Health Services Bone and Joint Health Strategic Clinical Network’s initiative for developing clinical care pathways to help assess and manage shoulder disorders.
From Colleen’s perspective, she’s excited to be part of a group that sees the larger impact MAP to MOTION can have.
“Shoulder pain or injury can have such an impact on someone’s life — from the quality of their sleep to even going so far as having patient’s change their occupation to cope. A large majority of the cases I see can be treated with non-operative management; an approach that is helpful for the overall health and wellbeing of the patient, but also reduces the strain on the overall healthcare system,” she shares. “By capturing the data from Albertans and applying it to Albertans, the potential of MAP to MOTION to tangibly improve quality of life in our province is huge.”
As a first-of-its-kind innovation MAP to MOTION will fill an information gap in patient care and evaluation in the community. It offers an opportunity to integrate data from community health providers, routinely captured clinical and administrative data, and data that highlights a patient’s own preferences and goals and how the outcome of their care aligns to those.
As the initiative takes shape, Colleen and the Shoulder Topic Expert Group have identified what important pieces of data should be collected and will focus on forming partnerships with healthcare providers to streamline processes.
“I’m excited to be part of this project, but even more so about its potential.”