Arthritis News | ARMA

MSK Medicine informs Choosing Wisely programme

The Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine UK will be submitting evidence and information on how Musculoskeletal Medicine and Exercise Medicine can contribute to the Choosing Wisely programme.

Choosing Wisely is a part of a global initiative, launched by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, aimed at improving conversations between patients and their doctors and nurses.

The purpose of the programme is to improve conversations between medical staff and patients to deliver enhanced care. The Academy explains; by having discussions that are informed by the doctor, but take into account what’s important to the patient too, both sides can be supported to make better decisions about care.…

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LUPUS UK publish results of their member survey

The recently published results of a LUPUS UK survey have revealed that lupus patients in the UK experience an average delay of 6.4 years between developing initial symptoms and reaching a diagnosis. In addition, the survey showed no change in this delay to diagnosis over recent decades despite efforts to improve identification and diagnosis of the disease.

The results of this survey, which was a collaboration between Manchester researchers and LUPUS UK, demonstrate that further work is needed to raise awareness of lupus amongst both healthcare professionals and patients in the UK to recognise the early symptoms and signs of the disease.…

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Accolade for ASone website & Axial Spondyloarthritis Seminar

ASone wins European Award

NASS is delighted to announce our ASone website is the inaugural winner of the EULAR Young PARE Youth Award.

In summer 2017 NASS launched ASone, a platform aimed at young people with AS. It’s a community where young people can share their thoughts, feelings and experiences. ASone covers a range of issues including studying, relationships, managing AS and exercising.

Read more about ASone from the NASS website.

Axial Spondyloarthritis Seminar

NASS welcomed 40 osteopaths and chiropractors to our inaugural Axial Spondyloarthritis Seminar on 21 February.…

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Update on Together for Mental Health in North Wales

Together for Mental Health in North Wales is an all-ages plan for mental health services in North
Wales covering the period up to 2021.

It has been put together by NHS Wales with partner organisations and with people who have lived experience of mental health issues. The project is supported by Caniad, an organisation created to involve people with lived experience in the design, delivery and evaluation of our mental health services.

The strategy outlines NHS Wales’s ambition to offer a comprehensive range of services that:

Promote health and wellbeing for everyone, focussing on prevention of mental ill health, and
early intervention when required;
Treat common mental health conditions in the community as early as possible;
Are community-based wherever possible, reducing our reliance on inpatient care;
Identify and treat serious mental illness as early as possible;
Manage acute and serious episodes of mental illness safely, compassionately, and
effectively;
Support people to recovery, to regain and learn the skills they need after mental illness; and
Assess and treat the full range of mental health problems, working alongside services for
people with physical health needs

Open the Together for Mental Health in North Wales strategy update document [PDF]
Law yn Llaw at Iechyd Meddwl yng Ngogledd Cymru – Chwefror 2018 [PDF]

BOA Congress 2018

Taking stock: Planning the future
25 – 28 September 2018, ICC Birmingham

Join the British Orthopaedic Association in Birmingham this September to celebrate its 100 year anniversary!

The BOA is delighted to be hosting its Centenary Congress at the ICC Birmingham.

The theme for this year’s Congress is ‘Taking stock: Planning the future’ and they are currently building an exciting programme which will be a dedication to the growth and success of the BOA since 1918.

Registering for BOA membership before 16th March to qualify for free registration to the BOA Congress.…

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Guest blog: Invisible disability at work

by Jane Green BSc. (HONS) Psych., PGCE, Av.Dip. Ed. Child Development, MA Ed. (Leadership and Management / autism)

Why did I stop working in my professional career?

Two-and-a-half years ago I medically retired. This was after years of pain following full dislocations; half-dislocations; sprains; tears in joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons; and arthritis. I received my diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome 3 (now hEDS) and associated conditions later that year.

As a child, I did have a few problems with joints and did ‘party tricks’.…

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CEO update: Magic happens.

At the end of January, I had the pleasure of experiencing an ARMA lecture for the first time. The lecture itself was excellent. No surprises there as it was delivered by Dame Carol Black speaking on musculoskeletal conditions, disability and employment. If you missed it, you can see the slides and video on the ARMA website. Twitter discussion using #MSKatwork continued into the following days. Between this and the follow-up articles on the talk (such as this one by the CSP), the audience for our message was huge.…

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ARMA Annual lecture: Dame Carol Black

Musculoskeletal conditions, disability and employment

Dame Carol Black is the outstanding expert advisor on health and work and principal of Newnham College Cambridge. Her lecture, delivered in London as part of the ARMA Annual Lecture series, was on progress to date by government, health professionals and employers on musculoskeletal conditions and their impact on employment and a person’s wellbeing.

The lecture and reception was well attended with an interesting Q&A session and lively twitter dialog using #MSKatWork.

You can watch the lecture on this page, where you can also find the accompanying slides for the presentation and photos from the event, or see the video directly via our YouTube channel.…

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HMSA e-news – Giving GPs the Tools campaign

The January edition of The Hypermobility Syndromes Association e-news is available here.

The HMSA will continue raising funds for their ‘Giving GPs the Tools’ campaign (outlined in the December ARMA newsletter) until 31st May 2018. The campaign, which will help people with heritable disorders of the connective tissue, and other hypermobility related health problems access appropriate care more easily, is allowing the HMSA to develop new information and a resources guide. The funds will also assist with the continuing development of professional training in the conditions we support.…

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EULAR Recommendations for imaging in large vessel vasculitis

The European League Against Rheumatism, EULAR, has published a set of recommendations, which look at the use of imaging modalities in primary large vessel vasculitis, including giant cell arteritis and Takayasu arteritis.

The recommendations are intended to advise physicians on the use of imaging modalities (including ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, computed tomography, CT, and positron emission tomography, PET) when making a clinical diagnosis of large vessel vasculitis (LVV), and when to apply imaging for monitoring of disease activity and damage.…

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