Over the past month we have invited members of the Start Moving community to help us get to know you a bit better by completing our survey. It's been very helpful.
We learned that this community is around 75% US based and 20% UK people, with some other countries participating too. We also learned that this is a very diverse group, with as many as 50% of survey respondents being from minority groups. This fulfils a big part of our mission - to create the most inclusive community for people with joint pain! We perhaps need more men though...only 15% men at the moment.
Most participants are here because of knee pain, and as many as half of you also have high blood pressure. Many have chronic pain and quite a large number have some depression. Most respondents find that the conversations about health are the most interesting, closely followed by articles and information sheets.
The survey helped confirm something we had realized during last year - that for most people chronic knee pain affects two other areas of health the most: these are cardiovascular health and mental health. This is because of the vicious cycle: chronic joint pain leads to less activity (because it hurts) and feeling down (hurting and losing mobility). This inactivity leads to weight gain and cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure.
Most respondents are being physically active at least 3 times a week. Fantastic!
Fortunately, survey respondents also have good ideas about what content in the community will be most interesting and helpful. These include:
1. How to be physically active even when it hurts
2. How to get pain relief without drugs
3. How to improve nutrition
4. How to lose some weight
5. Ideas for how to be physically active more often
6. How to improve mood and energy
7. More conversations from other people
8. More articles about general health
9. Not too many polls
10. Healthy recipe sheets
11. How to exercise at home
12. How to increase walking and find walking groups
13. How to cope with stress and pain
14. How to be more resilient
15. Learning about improving strength, flexibility, balance and endurance
Out of all the subjects we suggested in the survey, these 15 items are the most popular. So we promise in 2019 that these will be the things we focus on the most.
Finally, you may have noticed that we updated the community name to include "Strong Knees, Strong Hearts, Strong Minds". Your survey responses showed that these are the most important health areas to you. Our primary focus has always been knee pain, but we will now include information about cardiovascular and mental health too, because all are connected.
Movement and being physically active is the thing that has universal benefits: knees, hearts, and minds. Physical activity reduces pain, improves mood and helps keep the weight off. Our mission is to help and encourage you to start moving and keep moving. We look forward to a 2019 full of strength and resilience.
Very best wishes
The Team at Start Moving & Movement is Life
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