MSK & Arthritis News

Goodbye and good luck to Nita

Nita Parmar has led ARMA’s policy and communications work for over 6 years. It is Nita who has been responsible for compiling this newsletter. In addition to the newsletter Nita has chaired the regular policy and communications meetings and pulled together a consensus on a variety of policy positions from mental health to chronic pain. Nita put ARMA on the twitter map and grew our followers to over 6,500. She has developed and innovated our work on Bone and Joint Week, increasing our engagement and reach with each successive year.…

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NRAS CEO on the Health Without Borders podcast

Clare Jacklin, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society CEO, made an appearance on the Health Without Borders podcast this week speaking about RA to an international audience, predominantly in the US.

In this episode, Clare touched on how the US is working to increase access to the new Evusheld scheme, how NRAS has grown to become the nation’s leading patient-led organisation focusing on RA, and much more.

Listen to the podcast here.

New research call: Accelerating diagnosis and treatment

Versus Arthritis wants to bring about more accurate and faster diagnosis and more timely, effective and targeted treatments, tailored to individuals, taking into consideration not just their genes but also the environment they live in.

The Better Lives Today, Better Lives Tomorrow research strategy 2022-2026 focuses Versus Arthritis investment and influence on four priority areas over the next four years. It is striving to bring ground-breaking scientific discoveries to people with arthritis at pace and with precision. 

This call for applications for research funding centres on two priority areas: 

  • Early detection and prevention: spotting the biological signatures of arthritis early to maximise the opportunities for timely intervention and preventing it from getting worse. 
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New research call: Fatigue

Versus Arthritis has partnered with the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research to increase the evidence around fatigue in musculoskeletal conditions.

Versus Arthritis is seeking applications for a scoping review on ways to measure, assess and treat the chronic fatigue associated with musculoskeletal conditions. This can include:

  • the amount of evidence in each area
  • the quality of evidence available
  • where there are substantial gaps in current knowledge
  • the needs of people living with chronic fatigue
  • future research priorities based on the information gathered

Reviews should include scientific and clinical evidence, as well as meaningful inclusion of the needs of people living with chronic fatigue.…

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Community-powered MSK Health?

It’s been exciting in the last two years to be working with the BestMSK Health team at NHS England, and now also with MSK improvement work in Wales. There’s been lots of talk about co-production, self-management support, reducing inequalities and a focus on prevention. The direction is very much one that ARMA can support. Then I read A Community Powered NHS from New Local and I started to wonder if we are being brave enough, going far enough, thinking big enough.…

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ARMA trustee elections 2022

Following the ARMA elections, the AGM welcomed newly elected trustees Dale Webb, CEO of NASS, Ruth Sephton, consultant physiotherapist and Debbie Wilson, young persons’ project manager at NRAS. A full list of our Board is on our website.

At the Board meeting on 26 July 2022, Dirk Vennix was elected as chair and Chris Martey as vice-chair.

Newly elected Chair Dirk Vennix said “Having served on the Board in support of the finance and income generation groups over the last four years, I am honoured to have been chosen to lead the ARMA Board going forward.…

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Versus Arthritis – New dates for MSK training

The Versus Arthritis Core Skills training is aimed at GPs and other primary care professionals involved in diagnosing and supporting patients with MSK conditions. All courses are endorsed by the BSR.

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Decision support tools published

Shared decision making toolsNHS England has published a suite of eight decision support tools covering varying conditions along with guidance on how to use them and evaluating the impact.

Four of these relate to MSK conditions:

Decision support tools (DSTs), also called patient decision aids, support shared decision making (SDM) by making treatment, care and support options explicit, providing evidence-based information about the associated benefits and risks, and helping people to consider what matters most to them in relation to the possible outcomes, including doing nothing.…

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Women’s health strategy published

Policy Paper

Women’s Health Strategy for England

Updated 21 July 2022

Although women in the UK on average live longer than men, women spend a significantly greater proportion of their lives in ill health and disability when compared with men. The Women’s Health Strategy for England aims to tackle this.

The strategy sets out a six-point plan to boost health outcomes for all women and girls and radically improve the way in which the health and care system engages and listens to all women and girls.…

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