Author: Garreth

Musculoskeletal health now more important than ever

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

At the end of Bone and Joint Week (12 – 20 October) I reflect on how much things have changed in just ten days. It is an increasingly worrying time for both healthcare professionals and people with MSK conditions. The response to Covid-19 has already had a significant impact on the MSK health of the nation. The need for good MSK services has grown. During lockdown people worked from makeshift home offices, were less active and many were afraid to use NHS services even when they needed them.…

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Reaching our goal of more years of life in good health

Blog for #BoneJointWeek from Nuzhat Ali, National Lead for Musculoskeletal Health for Public Health England.

Every October, Bone and Joint Week helps get people thinking about one of the most widespread and pressing health issues of our times – musculoskeletal (MSK) health.

Good MSK health is when muscles, bones and joints are working together to carry out daily functions and activities with ease and without pain or discomfort.   

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way many of us think about our health and wellbeing, especially how we achieve good MSK health.…

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Welcome to new member British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine

ARMA is pleased to welcome another new member, the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (BASEM). BASEM is a multidisciplinary sport and exercise medicine membership organisation with a core responsibility to provide education and support to its members. BASEM supports the benefits of physical activity in all populations, without discrimination and the importance it plays in health and well-being and its role in both primary and secondary prevention of disease.

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‘Arthritis and You’ Guardian article

On 30 September the Guardian published a pull-out on ‘Arthritis and You’, featuring a number of ARMA members and important topics, including: living with arthritis, why pain is important, why speed is of the essence for inflammatory arthritis diagnosis, how children get arthritis too, what you can do while waiting for joint replacement surgery, and an appeal that rheumatoid arthritis patients must not be left to struggle alone.

See the Health Awareness articles in full here, in particular, ‘Why Pain is Important‘ by Sue Brown, ARMA CEO.

2020 Backcare Awareness Week Resources

The 2020 Backcare Awareness Week runs from 5-9 October.
The theme for this year’s campaign is Back Pain in Nursing.

The campaign will, with the assistance of BackCare‘s flagship publication Handling of People (HOP6), prevent significant back injuries in the Nursing profession. Many nurses will benefit from training which is provided by the National Back Exchange organisation.

Display packs are now available to order from the BackCare webshop. The pack contents include:

  • Back pain in Nursing – New A5 booklet
  • Back pain in Nursing – New A3 Poster
  • Talkback Special Awareness Week Edition
  • Talkback back issues
  • Flyer on Facts
  • Link to free downloadable content
  • Balloons and leaflets for display

Visit the Backcare Awareness Week page on the BackCare website for updates.

Joint statement from professionals and patients on MSK services in the event of a second wave of Covid-19

Joint statement from professionals and patients on MSK services in the event of a second wave of Covid-19

With cases of Covid-19 rising and the prospect of increased pressure on hospitals this winter as a result, it will be unacceptable for the NHS to respond to this by treating only urgent and emergency cases in musculoskeletal (MSK) services.

As organisations representing patients and professionals, we recognise that this was a necessary response in spring of this year. However, it came at significant cost to patients’ physical and mental health, and the resulting suffering will continue for many months, perhaps years, to come.…

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Good musculoskeletal services – Now more than ever

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

As I write this, the news is of rising cases of Covid-19, rising hospital admissions and local lockdowns. All our readers will be concerned about what this might mean for NHS services. The prospect of going through all that again is frightening. One thing ARMA members, professional and patient organisations alike, are saying is that for good musculoskeletal health, now more than ever, MSK services matter.

We are not in the same place as we were in March and we cannot respond in the same way.…

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Guest blog: How to postpone becoming a bionic woman

Better communications with symptomatic hypermobility patients leads to better outcomes

By Jane Green – advocate ex Assist. Headteacher, BSc (HONS) Psych., PGCE QTS, Adv.Dip.Ed.(CD), MA Ed. (Leadership and Management), Social Care Institute for Excellence Trustee and on the co-production steering board for four years

For anyone on the long journey to diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) (previously Joint Hypermobility syndrome (JHS)) or the closely related Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD), the knowledge, practice and understanding of appropriate musculoskeletal issues from practitioners is hugely beneficial.…

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Power to the people: MSK Coproduction Tweet Chat

At 7pm on 21 September 2020, people living with musculoskeletal conditions and healthcare professionals and policy influencers congregated in anticipation of a tweet chat on Twitter – ‘Power to the People.’

The tweet chat encompassed co-production of a new NHS MSK strategy – patients and healthcare professionals improving care together. The discussion for that hour involved 51 people, 279 posts, 1197 engagements. The #MSKCoPro was seen over half a million times by over 100,000 users.

If you missed it, there were too many tweets to publish them all, but here are some of the themes that emerged in response to questions about:

Please feel free to continue the chat using #MSKCoPro.

…

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ESCAPE-pain programme wins prestigious HSJ Value Award

ESCAPE-pain has been awarded the ‘MSK Care Initiative of the Year’ at the HSJ Value Awards 2020.

The programme was awarded this prestigious award in recognition of its outstanding contribution to delivering better services and driving better outcomes across its organisation and delivery partners over the past 12 months.

The judges felt this this was an excellent initiative which enables self-management for people with hip and knee pain. Clear rationale was given for the initiative with supporting evidence and references, which has led to improvement in patient care.…

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