MSK & Arthritis News

Women and young people hit hardest by lockdown

Study suggests women and young people have been hardest hit psychologically by coronavirus lockdown

A new study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, has looked at the potential impact of the coronavirus pandemic on population mental health.

  • It found that there was an overall increase in mental distress in people aged 16 years and older in the UK.
  • This did not affect all groups equally, with some subgroups showing marked increases. Factors most strongly linked with mental health deterioration were those associated with pre-existing health inequalities, such as gender and age.
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Guest blog: the Change Challenge Collaborative

by Greta McLachlan, Fellow at the Strategic planning and development cell, NHS England and Improvement, part of the Change Challenge Collaborative.

The change challenge collaborative is a group of professionals who have come together to work across the MSK, orthopaedic and rheumatology specialties to try and capture beneficial changes that have occurred within the NHS during COVID- 19. The aim being to try and capture these changes and ideas to ensure that these innovations are not lost when the NHS comes out of its pandemic measures.…

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Gold Standard Time to Diagnosis

Help end the 8.5-year delay in the diagnosis of axial SpA (AS)

A new programme that aims to end the 8.5-year delay to diagnosis for people living with axial Spondyloarthritis (axial SpA) was launched on 15 July 2020.

Gold Standard Time to Diagnosis will set the world’s first Gold Standard to reduce the average time to diagnosis in axial SpA (AS) to just one year. The consultation process, which is phase one of the programme, was launched at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on axial Spondyloarthritis.…

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Launch of brand new JIA-at-NRAS website

Since 2019, NRAS has been working hard on improving information provision to members, supporters and the wider Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) community. 

The latest publications, updates and activities for JIA-at-NRAS represent a huge support resource for those who need it. A priority for NRAS – and an expectation from those they support – is an easy-to-navigate, user friendly, informational website, because this is the primary route for people to discover the organisation.

NRAS is excited to launch the new and improved JIA-at-NRAS website!…

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RA Awareness Week: 7-13 September 2020

With RAAW 2020, NRAS aims to educate and inform the public about exactly what rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is and how it impacts those living with the condition. This year, and taking into account recent events, the focus will be on ‘Mental Wellbeing’ and the ways in which you can improve your mental health and wellbeing.

 

Some areas of focus will be: learning new skills, connecting with people, being more physically active, mindfulness, giving and kindness. Throughout the week NRAS will also share some personal stories, raise awareness, and fundraise to support those living with RA. …

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NICE publishes new guidelines on elective surgery, planned care

A new COVID-19 rapid guideline: arranging planned care in hospitals and diagnostic services NICE guideline [NG179] has been released by NICE. The publication makes recommendations for how these services should be organised to balance the risks associated with covid-19 and the potential harms that could arise from delays in elective treatment and diagnostic procedures.

The guidance states that people having planned care involving any form of anaesthesia and sedation should follow social distancing and hand hygiene measures for 14 days prior to admission – a change from 14 days of self-isolation.…

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Webinar: Women and Axial Spondyloarthritis: diagnosis and management

Friday 9 October 2020, 12.30 – 1.30pm

Men with Axial SpA are more likely than women to experience changes to the bones and fusion, and thus they can be picked up using x-ray. Women are more likely than men to experience inflammation rather than fusion, which is visible on MRI but not on x-ray. In this webinar, three consultant rheumatologists will consider what this means for diagnosis and management the evidence, research and case studies. It will also consider issues related to pregnancy and co-morbidities.…

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Remote MSK consultations: A Survival Guide – Free webinar

Versus Arthritis has teamed up with Red Whale to bring you a FREE webinar looking at ways in which to assess common MSK presentations using remote consultations.

This webinar will focus on:

  • Red flag MSK conditions: how to spot them and what to do.
  • MSK remote consulting: evidence and hints and tips.
  • Useful tools to support and sign-post patients towards self-management.

The webinar is available to watch on demand now.

Versus Arthritis launches ‘Impossible to Ignore’ campaign

People with arthritis can’t ignore their pain. Let’s make sure the Government doesn’t, either. 

This is why Versus Arthritis has launched the Impossible to Ignore campaign, calling on politicians and policy-makers to address the needs of people with arthritis. Now, your support is needed to demand change.

For many people, lockdown has made living with arthritis even harder. With appointments, treatments and joint replacement surgery delayed, people with arthritis face worsening pain and impacts to their physical and mental health that are impossible to ignore. …

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ARMA’s new Associate Membership Scheme

ARMA has launched a new Associate Membership scheme to enable a wider range of stakeholders to engage with our activities.

It is important that our work is driven by the needs of patients, clinicians and researchers and is independent of commercial interests. However, we recognise that there are many stakeholders not eligible for ARMA membership who play an important role in musculoskeletal health, whose involvement would be mutually beneficial. Associate membership of ARMA provides a way for such organisations to engage with our work.…

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