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ARMA Newsletter December 2021

Thinking differently for MSK health

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ARMA virtual conference 2021

Last chance to join the ARMA conference on 6 December
This will be an inspiring, challenging, uplifting and thought-provoking day. Not to be missed.

Presentations delivered by leaders at every level from “why we can’t ignore the role of private therapists” to “moving from disease management to good health and wellbeing” and much more.

Don’t miss our keynote presentation from Stephen Powis, National Medical Director for NHS England.
If you can’t make the whole day, you can get access to the recordings to catch up afterwards.

Find out more

Buy tickets

Supported by Pfizer, Grünenthal and Janssen who have provided funding but have had no input to the content of the conference.

Celebrating progress

Celebrating progress
by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA
2021 has been a year of progress for ARMA and for MSK. We know that all our readers will be feeling exhausted. This has been a tough year for anyone working in health. It has also been the year when MSK began to get the profile it deserves with the new BestMSK Health programme in England and development of a new MSK Framework and clinical leads in Wales. We all know that we need to do things differently, that the pandemic has only made worse those problems that already existed. There is now a momentum behind the drive for change, the desire to do things differently, to work together for the best possible MSK health services.

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Guest blog: Introducing The Cornwall Arthritis Trust

Introducing The Cornwall Arthritis Trust
by Professor Tony Woolf, Acting Chair and Secretary, Cornwall Arthritis Trust
Cornwall is well known for its coastline, beaches and mixture of rugged countryside with wooded valleys, great gardens and wonderful vistas. Poldark county. A visitor’s paradise but it has all the problems of rural and coastal communities with an economic dependency on agriculture and tourism and a low pay economy. Economic hardship is not immediately obvious but there are Cornish estates that rank among the highest in the league tables for multiple deprivation…

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ARMA publishes chronic pain resources

Recently ARMA published a suite of chronic pain resources to address the 15.5 million people and 81% of people with a musculoskeletal condition reporting being in chronic pain. Chronic (persistent or long-lasting or recurrent) pain is life-changing and can affect all parts of life. Chronic pain is linked to deprivation and health inequalities. For these reasons, chronic pain is important to the ARMA alliance of members.
ARMA members have collaborated to produce these resources:

ARMA Core Offer for pain

This sets out what ARMA believes should be available in every area for people living with long term pain. Most of this provision needs to be delivered locally, as close as possible to people. We believe that every local health body (ICS, Health Board or Health and Social Care Trust) should have a plan for how this will be delivered. Read the "Core Offer".

ARMA Chronic Pain Policy Position Paper

The policy position paper makes recommendations for chronic pain including that more community-based approaches to pain should be developed to meet the needs of people with chronic pain. Multidisciplinary, networked, personalised approaches to pain should be standard.

Executive summary

Full version

Other chronic pain resources are available on the Pain and MSK page of the ARMA website.

ARMA welcomes two new members

ARMA is pleased to welcome to its membership the Cornwall Arthritis Trust as a member, and Galapagos UK as an associate member.
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The Cornwall Arthritis Trust supports the provision of health care for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions across Cornwall and furthers the knowledge and treatment of these conditions by supporting research and education. It was established in 1976 to develop and equip the Duke of Cornwall rheumatology department, Royal Cornwall Hospital but now also supports the care of people in the wider community including through this website. See its website www.cornwallarthritis.org.uk and Twitter page and Twitter handle @ArthritisTrust.
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Galapagos UK is a pioneering biotechnology company, focused on making a difference to people with inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. Galapagos UK aims to make a lasting, positive contribution to society by delivering breakthrough medicines they have discovered to patients. Together with the inflammation healthcare community, they will continue to tackle chronic disease and improve the lives of patients. See their website www.glpg.com/uk and Twitter account; Twitter handle @glpg_UK.

Webinars to watch

If you missed our last webinar, it’s available to watch again:
The role of patient organisations in rheumatology and implementing the GIRFT rheumatology report featuring Clare Jacklin, CEO of National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, and Dale Webb, CEO of National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society.

Key MSK COVID-19 resources

ARMA continues to keep its COVID-19 resources page up to date.
See key resources at the ARMA COVID-19 resources page.

Members' news

Arthritis Action seeks trustees

Arthritis Action seeks trustees

Arthritis Action is looking for trustees with access to an established professional network, who can advise their growing organisation and support the delivery of their exciting new strategy. They welcome new trustees with expertise in marketing & communications, fundraising & income generation, strategic planning, human resources, legal. Arthritis Action would especially like to hear from individuals from under-represented or diverse groups.
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NASS driving service improvements

New report sheds light on game-changing innovations in axial SpA care
The report, Driving Improvements in Axial SpA Services: Building Foundations through Aspiring to Excellence was produced and published by the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS), and launched on 22 October 2021. This is the first detailed account of service improvement projects undertaken by rheumatology teams across the UK as part of the Aspiring to Excellence programme.
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Sustainability in Orthopaedic Surgery

The National Orthopaedic Alliance’s latest guest blog post, Sustainability in Orthopaedic Surgery, comes from Irrum Afzal, Vipin Asopa, Vipul Patel and Deiary Kader of the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre: “Sustainability in surgery continues to gain great traction as global warming and climate change continue to become an ever-growing problem. The NHS is the largest single contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the public sector…
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Relaunched Managing JIA in School booklet

NRAS relaunch Managing JIA in School booklet

On World Arthritis Day, JIA-at-NRAS relaunched their Managing JIA in School booklet. The update provides information on all aspects of education and is a useful resource for parents, teachers and for the child themselves. There is more information about how to inform the school about your child’s JIA, individual health care plan, tips for teachers and children…
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SMILE-RA introductory video

SMILE-RA introductory video

SMILE-RA is a unique and engaging e-learning experience for people with RA and their families who want to understand more about RA, its treatments and how to support their loved one. SMILE-RA has a modular approach to learning, so each module is on a particular theme or subject and takes between 20 mins and half an hour to complete.
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Medicines in JIA booklet from NRAS

Medicines in JIA booklet from NRAS

The JIA booklet Medicines in JIA was launched by NRAS earlier this year. The focus of this booklet is on the medicines that are used to treat JIA, but it also contains information about what parents and young people with JIA can expect at every stage from diagnosis onwards, showing that medicines are only one part of treatment.
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Goodboost recognized in Fit For Life Awards

Goodboost recognized in Fit For Life Awards

In 2021, the Fit for Life Foundation Awards recognized GoodBoost alongside two other organisations that embody an innovative and impactful approach to improving the health and fitness of older people. GoodBoost were cited for their creation of personalized exercise tools, and praised for combining their clinical knowledge with technology to create affordable and easy-to-use water-based exercises. These exercises, associated with Swim England’s Water Wellbeing programme, are to be expanded to more pools across the country…
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Osteopaths role in MSK Service delivery

Amanda Hensman-Crook, AHP National Clinical Fellow from Health Education England, led a vibrant keynote speech at the recent Institute of Osteopathy Convention. Amanda focused on First Contact MSK roles and the Advanced Practice agenda and how osteopaths are part of the contemporary healthcare environment to support MSK service delivery.

Amanda also briefed about an MSK educational roadmap to Advanced Practice and a ground-breaking collaboration …
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Psoriasis Association's Facebook Live sessions

New videos of Facebook Live sessions on psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and lifestyle now available
The Psoriasis Association is delighted to bring you recordings from the two Facebook Live sessions that we held during Psoriasis Awareness Week 2021. The videos feature information and advice from experts in nutrition and exercise, based on this year’s Psoriasis Awareness Week theme – lifestyle factors that may be important to consider when living with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis – including diet and exercise.

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Versus Arthritis Core Skills webinars and courses

Versus Arthritis Core Skills webinars and courses

Versus Arthritis is running several webinars in the coming months:
Versus Arthritis MSK bitesize webinar, 8 December 1-4pm;

Chronic pain and the NICE guidelines webinar, 13 January 6-8pm;

Versus Arthritis Core Skills in Musculoskeletal Care digital course, 18 & 25 January, 1 & 8 February 6-8pm;

‘Is it inflammatory arthritis or fibromyalgia syndrome?’ webinar, 24 March 2-4pm.
More information

Spotlight on...

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National Voices Timely Access to Care

A new publication from National Voices, Timely access to care: Principles for recovery argues for an inclusive, equitable and person-centred recovery, focusing on the whole person, in the context of their lives, and the whole system, and the context within which it is operating.
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NICE quality standard on joint replacement

The draft NICE joint replacement quality standard consultation is now open:
Joint replacement (primary): hip, knee and shoulder.
Comments can be submitted on the NICE website by 13 December 2021.
Expected publication date: 29 March 2022.
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Pain Forecast epidemiological survey

In 2016, the Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis at the University of Manchester ran a large study, collecting data about people's symptoms and comparing this to the weather. Using this data, the researchers are now aiming to build a pain forecast. This will be like a weather forecast but used for predicting pain severity in the near future.
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Edgar Stene Prize 2022 competition

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The late Edgar Stene, who had severe ankylosing spondylitis, was a great promoter of co-operation between doctors, patients and community workers. The EULAR Edgar Stene Prize Competition runs yearly in his memory and honour. First prize is EUR 1,000 and the winner will be invited to attend the EULAR Congress in 2022. Second prize is EUR 700 …

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ARMA Calendar

2 Dec 2021 Edgar Stene Prize closing date
6 Dec 2021 Thinking Differently for MSK Health ARMA Conference
8 Dec 2021, 1-4pm Versus Arthritis MSK bitesize webinar
13 Jan 2022, 6-8pm Versus Arthritis Chronic pain and the NICE guidelines webinar
18 Jan 2022, 6-8pm Versus Arthritis Core Skills in MSK Care digital course
25 Jan 2022, 6-8pm Versus Arthritis Core Skills in MSK Care digital course
1 Feb 2022, 6-8pm Versus Arthritis Core Skills in MSK Care digital course
8 Feb 2022, 6-8pm Versus Arthritis Core Skills in MSK Care digital course
15 Mar 2022 Edgar Stene Prize winner announcement
24 Mar 2022, 2-4pm ‘Is it inflammatory arthritis or fibromyalgia syndrome?’ webinar
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We know that many people value our newsletter, webinars and the fact that we provide a voice for MSK health. We are increasingly asked: given that our membership is made up of organisations, how can an individual support ARMA? For this reason, we have set up a new supporter scheme.
Full details can be found on our Become an ARMA Supporter page.
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