2025 Scholars' Research Symposium Abstract: Walk With Ease Benefiting South Dakota.

Background: Walk With Ease (WWE) is an evidence-based arthritis self-management program developed by the Arthritis Foundation. Although the target audience is individuals with arthritis, any adult interested in increasing their physical activity can benefit. WWE provides community-level access to physical activity in rural South Dakota through internet access or trained local leaders. Before WWE started in South Dakota in 2018, South Dakota did not have an online, state-specific physical activity program. WWE is a free program that aims to help sedentary adults increase their physical activity and improve their overall health.

Methods: This project evaluated the self-reported benefits to participants that accessed the online portal for WWE using multiple metrics collected during the year 2022. 234 participants filled out the pre-survey, 145 people were lost to follow up and not included in analysis, 89 participants completed the pre- and post-survey and were included in the analysis. Of the 89 participants, 15 were male, 70 were female, and 4 participants preferred not to answer that question. The average age of the participants included in analysis was 50 years old, (the minimum age was 23 and maximum age was 77). Of note, the pre- and post-surveys asked about participants' self-reported "overall health," "daily minutes walked," and how the participants felt they "managed their chronic health condition(s)." The post-survey also included questions about the ease of use of the online portal to access additional resources. These metrics were measured before participants began the program and after completion of the program to see if this free program provided benefits.

Outcome: From pre-survey to post-survey, 26% of participants reported their "overall health" improved, 67% stayed the same, and 7% reported a decrease. "Minutes walked" was another metric analyzed, 30% of participants increased their daily minutes walked by anywhere from 1 minute to 30+ minutes, 57% stayed the same, and 13% decreased. Participants reported "management of their chronic health condition(s)" were 44% improved, 34% stayed the same, and 22% decreased. As for "Ease of online portal usage", 44% of participants reported the online portal was "very easy to use," 46% reported it was "easy to use," and 10% reported it was "neutral."

Conclusion: Overall, the majority of participants in the WWE program improved or stayed the same for their selfreported "overall health," "daily minutes walked," and "management of their chronic health condition(s)." Limitations of this study include the small sample size (of 234 initial participants, only 91 participants completed the pre- postsurveys and were included in the study. This study did show that an evidence-based, arthritis self-management program like WWE has potential to help participants improve their exercise metrics with the implementation of an online portal for participants to access additional resources at any time.