Mind-body interventions, such as yoga, that teach stress management with physical activity may be well suited\r\nfor investigation in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.In order to be considered as viable care options\r\nintegrative studies need to offer a comprehensive design and include clinicians familiar with the disease process of\r\nthe study populations.A review of the literature reveals a dearth of information related to the collaboration between\r\nyoga and physical rehabilitation medicine.This article discusses the collaboration with physical rehabilitation\r\nmedicine to collect relevant pre- and post-intervention measures for an on-going pilot acceptability/feasibility yoga\r\nstudy for minority patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.\r\nAn interdisciplinary clinical research team selected psychosocial and physical measures for a community sample\r\nof bilingual minority patients, not typically identified as practicing yoga. Sixteen female adults aged 40-63 years\r\n(mean =51) completed baseline physical assessments using single leg stance, functional reach test, time up and\r\ngo test, timed up from the floor test and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand measures.Baseline values\r\nshow an average level of functional ability prior to beginning the intervention.Preliminary results indicate some\r\nimprovement; however, selected measures may not have the sensitivity and specificity needed to identify significant\r\nchange.In this study, combining interdisciplinary perspectives enhanced the quality of the research study design.The\r\nexperience of this interdisciplinary clinical research team opens the discussion for future collaborations.
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