MSK & Arthritis News

SMILE has launched!

NRAS is proud to announce the launch of the first programme on their new e-learning platform – SMILE-RA.

SMILE is a unique and engaging e-learning experience for people with RA, and families who want to understand more about RA, its treatments and how to support their loved one. It will also be a useful resource for health professionals, new into rheumatology, who want to learn more about this complex autoimmune disease, how it is managed and the importance of self-management for their patients.…

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Psoriatic arthritis PSP top ten launched

top-10-list-also-below

The British Psoriatic Arthritis Consortium has worked with the James Lind Alliance to run a priority setting partnership (PSP), and in August launched their ‘Top Ten’ list of research priorities for psoriatic arthritis. These have been agreed upon by patients, carers and clinicians, and the launch marks the culmination of the psoriatic arthritis PSP research.

Brit-PACT is delighted to reveal the Top Ten Psoriatic Arthritis Research Priorities, agreed upon by people who are living with psoriatic arthritis, carers and healthcare professionals.…

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Impacts of COVID-19 on deconditioning and falls

Public Health England has published a report on the wider impacts of COVID-19 on physical activity, deconditioning and falls in older adults. The study modelled the likely effect of the decrease in strength and balance activity observed during the pandemic on people who experience a fall, the number of falls and associated health and social care costs.

Key findings

Some of the key findings were:

  • 32% of older people were inactive between March to May 2020. This has increased from 27% in the corresponding period in 2019;
  • average duration of strength and balance activity decreased from 126 to 77 minutes per week, with the greatest change in the 70 to 74 age group;
  • without mitigation, modelling predicts that 110,000 more older people (an increase of 3.9%) are projected to have at least one fall per year as a result of reduced strength and balance activity during the pandemic.
…

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Working in partnership with patients to extend the benefits of pain management programmes

Guest blog by Dr Michelle Farr, Research Fellow at University of Bristol and the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West)

People who experience long-term pain have important insights and strategies that help them manage pain in everyday life. However, they are often not invited to share their knowledge and skills to inform the services that are meant to support them. ARMA has been highlighting the importance of working in partnership with patients and how co-production, where patients and professionals work together, can improve pain services.…

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Long COVID self-management tools

Physiotherapist Katie Knapton from PhysioFit and Pete Moore from the PainToolkit have co-written a self-management guide for people suffering with Long Covid. This is free and entry-level information to try and help people on the path to recovery.

If you are noticing any worsening symptoms especially in terms of chest pain and shortness of breath it is vital that you are medically assessed. If you have been medically cleared, then it is still appropriate to have support and to monitor symptoms.…

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Health Foundation report: Waiting for care

Waiting for care: Understanding the pandemic’s effects on people’s health and quality of life looks at how the suspension of routine NHS care has affected people’s health and wellbeing via two case studies – hip replacements and diabetes.

In 2020, as a result of the pandemic, 58,000 fewer people than usual had a hip replacement and are therefore waiting. Those waiting are particularly likely to be in certain regions of England, are slightly more likely to be older and slightly more likely to be living in deprived areas.…

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Social prescribing – a vital role in MSK health

This month I have been working on a resource for social prescribing link workers which ARMA plans to publish in the autumn. It’s made me reflect on what a valuable role link workers can play in MSK health. We know that many people with MSK conditions need support with their mental health or have become lonely or isolated as result of their condition. Added to this they may have other conditions which are harder to manage as a result of their MSK health.…

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ARMA CEO to speak at Health and Inactivity webinar

9 September 2021
09.30am

ARMA’s CEO, Sue Brown, along with speakers from Public Health England, Moving Medicine and others, will be speaking at a Health and Inactivity webinar, organised by Why Sports.

This webinar will discuss and build on new and existing agendas. How do the leading organisations plan to provide better access to support and joined-up services, whilst working with people who live the experience, after all, they are the experts and should be central to how services are designed and delivered. …

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September is Pain Awareness Month

September is Pain Awareness Month from The Societal Impact of Pain. Pain Awareness Europe (PAE), in collaboration with other organisations in Europe, is holding an online event on 7 September, 14:00-15:00 CEST (15:00-16:00 British Summer Time). The webinar (in English) will focus on the topic of employment and pain and is open to all interested parties. Join the virtual event with via link.

There are also some infographics from PAE on ICD-11 and ICF available here.

ARMA free webinar – Services to support people to live well with pain

17 September 2021, 12.30 – 1.30pm

ARMA’s free webinar during Pain Awareness Month features James Watson, Physiotherapy Pain Lead, Integrated MSK and Community Pain Management, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and Mohammad Shoiab, Pain Specialist Physiotherapist/Clinical Lead, Connect Health Pain Services.…

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