Category: Arthritis News

Moving matters

Interventions to increase physical activity

We know that keeping active is important for maintaining MSK health. The challenge is always how to encourage people to be more active. This themed review from NIHR provides some evidence about what works (and what doesn’t).

The review outlines evidence from over 50 studies of what is effective in getting people more active. Evaluations range from programmes in schools and communities to changes in transport and the environment, which are designed to promote greater activity.…

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Driving forward social prescribing: A framework for Allied Health Professionals

This new resource looks at how Allied Health Professionals can be involved with social prescribing, not just AHPs who work in the NHS but also those in private practice. The framework sets out four ways AHPs can engage with social prescribing, from active signposting, to involvement in the development of social prescribing and gives examples of how different AHPs might do this.

Social prescribing improves outcomes for people by giving more choice and control over their lives. It is effective at targeting the causes of health inequalities and is particularly useful for people who need more support with their mental health, have one or more long-term conditions, are lonely or isolated, and/or have complex social needs that affect their wellbeing.…

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ARMA responds to the Government’s Prevention Green Paper

23 July 2019

The Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance, an alliance of prominent health charities, professional and research bodies, welcomed the publication of the Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s consultation document from the UK Government.

The Green Paper recognises that for the last 30 years, problems with joints, bones and muscles have been the most common cause of years lived with disability in England and the Green Paper’s proposition includes increasing the join-up across mental and physical health services. It includes ensuring businesses are equipped with the knowledge and tools they need for musculoskeletal health, convening a reference group on this.…

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Two publications on prevention

In the run up to the publication of the Government’s Green Paper on prevention, the IPPR has published a report Ending the blame game: The case for a new approach to public health and prevention. The UK has made significant progress on prevention in the past, IPPR says, but we appear to have ‘hit a wall’ with limited progress since 2010. They call for the government’s prevention green paper to deliver a paradigm shift in policy from interventions that ‘blame and punish’ to those that ‘empathise and assist’.…

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NHS People Plan

One major criticism of the NHS Long Term Plan was the lack of any detail on workforce. This detail has begun to emerge with the publication of the Interim People Plan for the NHS. It looks at the need to transform the way the entire workforce, including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals (AHPs), pharmacists, healthcare scientists, dentists, non-clinical professions, social workers in the NHS, commissioners, non-executives and volunteers, work together. It works on the basis that multi-professional clinical teams will be the foundation of the future workforce, rather than treating the workforce as a group of separate professions.…

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PHE framework for MSK prevention published

Public Health England has published two documents related to MSK prevention. The first is a whole-system strategic framework for prevention of musculoskeletal conditions across the life-course. The purpose is to provide stakeholders and system collaborators with a clear statement of PHE, NHS England and Versus Arthritis’ commitments to promote MSK health and to prevent MSK conditions. Each collaborating organisation, including ARMA, has identified what they will be contributing, and in some cases, leading on.

The document contains information about a range of MSK prevention activities and links to resources and tools to help prevention activity.…

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Primary Care Rheumatology Society has a new name

The PCRS is delighted to announce that, with immediate effect, the society’s name will change to the PRIMARY CARE RHEUMATOLOGY AND MUSCULOSKELETAL MEDICINE SOCIETY.

The name change is to more clearly represent who and what the organisation has become. The aims of the Society remain unchanged, with the main focus being education within primary care to increase the knowledge and understanding of rheumatological and general musculoskeletal issues, thereby improving management and patient outcomes.

 

Aspiring to Excellence programme – closing date approaching for applications

The application window for the Aspiring to Excellence award programme is nearing its end, with a deadline of 31 July. The programme is a strategic partnership between NASS, BRITSpA and sponsoring companies AbbVie, Novartis and UCB, designed to encourage and recognise service improvement in axial SpA (AS) care.

Visit the NASS website for details on how to apply. For further information please contact annamcgilvray@nass.co.uk.

CEO update: Patients with chronic pain deserve nothing less

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

I write this reflecting on my day yesterday, which was unexpectedly dominated by discussions on pain. Pain is, of course, something we all talk about a fair bit in the MSK health world, as it’s one of the shared factors that cuts across all MSK conditions. I’m increasingly realising it is something we don’t always deal with particularly well.

My day yesterday began with reading New Scientist on the train, including an article about UK doctors’ concerns that we will follow the US into an opioid crisis.…

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