Guest blog by Dr Alison Giles, Associate Director for Healthy Ageing, Centre for Ageing Better and Public Health England; and Elaine Rashbrook, Consultant Specialist, Life Course, Public Health England.
In October this year, Public Health England (PHE), together with the Centre for Ageing Better (CfAB) launched the Consensus Statement on Healthy Ageing. Over 70 organisations, including ARMA, have signed up and pledged to take action on the five principles set out in the Statement.
The average age at which people report a health condition or disability that interferes with daily life is just 62. …
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An educational programme of lectures and workshops for GPs, trainees and other members of the practice team to help develop core skills in musculoskeletal care.
October saw the launch of a new National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP), to champion social prescribing and the work of local communities in connecting people for wellbeing. Its objectives include exploring new ways of sourcing statutory and non-statutory funding and brokering relationships between different sectors. Given the prevalence of MSK conditions, it is important that social prescribing has something to offer for MSK.
Bone and Joint Week in October helps get people thinking about one of the most widespread and pressing health issues of our times – musculoskeletal health and the role each person in improving it. This year ARMA’s member organisations, Public Health England, NHE England, NHS Confederation and many other organisations collaborated during the campaign using 
Bone and Joint Week is over for another year, and what a fantastic week it was, thanks to the support of our members and key stakeholders. It’s a one week blitz of MSK messaging on social media, raising awareness and prompting action. This year we had an even bigger reach than ever. But it doesn’t end there.
In October 2019 a report on chronic pain services and management from a patient and healthcare professional perspective was published. The research has highlighted a number of key insights and themes for how respondents felt that chronic pain services can be improved and made more equitable in the future. Pain is one of the common factors across all MSK conditions, so this is something which ARMA will be following up in the future.
ARMA joins Public Health England and the Centre for Ageing Better to make England the best place to grow old, because musculoskeletal health is vital to healthy ageing.
Guest blog by Amanda Woolley, Policy and Implementation Lead for the Elective Care Transformation Programme at NHS England and NHS Improvement
In September, Public Health England published a report on their review of the scale, distribution and causes of prescription drug dependence, and what might be done to address it. This included findings on opioid use for non cancer pain. The report made recommendations for action to reduce the problems caused by dependency and stated that effective, personalised care should include shared decision-making with patients and regular reviews of whether treatment is working.
NASS has just released a new series of videos showing how everyone living with axial spondyloarthritis (axial SpA) – including people with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) – can fit some simple but very effective stretches into their daily life.