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Promoting Amputee Life Skills (PALS)
Developed by the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health,
the University of Washington
and the Amputee
Coalition of America, the Promoting
Amputee Life Skills (PALS) program studied
the effectiveness of self-management for
people living with limb loss.
Participants in the PALS study were
recruited from 50 amputee support groups
nationwide. All participants were over the
age of 8, had been living with limb loss
for at least six months, and had acquired
amputations. total of 502 individuals
participated – 275 in the intervention
group and 227 in a control group.
The members of the control group
attended their regular support group meetings
and continued their regular program
for three months.
The intervention group attended a
two-hour group meeting conducted by a
trained leader and a facilitator every week
for eight weeks. Each session focused on a
different relevant topic, including:
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Dealing with aches and pains
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How to bounce back and interact with
family and friends
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Communicating, networking and accessing
community resources
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Building healthy minds and bodies
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Keeping motivated and tracking
progress.
All candidates participated in a 30-
minute interview regarding their specific
limb loss and how their lives had been
altered, pre- and three times post-intervention.
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Outcomes of the PALS study include:
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95% of the participants said they would
Promoting Amputee Life Skills (PALS)
recommend PALS to a friend.
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77% said it was more helpful than a
support group.
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58% said it was very helpful in managing
pain.
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At six months, control-group
participants were 2.5 times more likely
to be depressed than those in the
intervention group.
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Overall, PALS participants experienced
a significant increase in self-efficacy and
positive mood and were less likely to
experience limitations in function.
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The ACA now has trained group leaders
and an intervention program that can
continue to be delivered through its
support group structure.
Building on this research experience,
the ACA has developed a new program,
Promoting Amputee Life Skills Plus (PALS
Plus). Delivered in the inpatient and
rehabilitation setting, PALS Plus incorporates
peer visitation and motivational
interviewing. The goal of PALS Plus is to
evaluate the effectiveness of an enhanced,
early self-management intervention among
400 patients at five healthcare facilities.
PALS Plus will measure pain, depressed
mood, positive mood, function, participation
and bothersomeness of limitations.
The hypothesis is that improvements in
primary and secondary outcomes will
result through the program’s impact on
self-efficacy, patient activation, catastrophizing
and social support. The investigation
will also provide unique and valuable
information regarding patients’ acceptance
and use of peer visitation and self-management
following limb loss.
» Click here to learn more about Promoting Amputee Life Skills (PALS)
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