Bone and Joint Week – 12-20 October 2019
During this annually occurring event there are dedicated days to highlight major rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions.
#BoneJointWeek
What is Bone and Joint Week?
Every October, Bone and Joint Week helps get people thinking about one of the most widespread and pressing health issues of our times – musculoskeletal health and the role of each person in improving it.
Musculoskeletal conditions affect the bones, joints and muscles and are the largest cause of disability. An estimated 17.8 million people live with a musculoskeletal condition in the UK. This compares to 3.5 million with diabetes, 7 million with heart disease and 1.2 million with COPD. Many people have more than one condition.
When is it taking place?
12-20 October annually. Each day, a different aspect of musculoskeletal health is highlighted. Bone and Joint Week also incorporates world awareness days, such as World Arthritis Day and World Osteoporosis Day. This is the daily schedule:
12 October: World Arthritis Day
13 October: Health Inequalities
14 October: Work and Health
15 October: Mental Health
16 October: World Spine Day
17 October: Physical Activity
18 October: MSK generic messaging
19 October: World Pediatric Bone & Joint Day
20 October: World Osteoporosis Day
Who should get involved?
Everyone can get involved in Bone and Joint Week, especially if you look after a community. It’s a social media-led campaign using #BoneJointWeek, so getting involved is easy, with daily infographics that can be retweeted, blogs and vlogs from healthcare leaders to share.
Now is the time to add the dates to your calendar, and encourage ambassadors in your organisation to write blogs and articles on good, lifelong musculoskeletal health. Your trust, council, professional body, research organisation or charity could easily retweet the daily infographics, ask your CEO to blog or you could write or record some top tips for musculoskeletal health.
More information
Again, we’ll be using the hashtag #BoneJointWeek so please include it in all your social media activity. And keep an eye on what’s going on by following @WeAreARMA on Twitter or check back on this page for updates.