Category: Patients

Flare Rollercoaster workshop, Portsmouth

Arthritis and Connective Tissue Disease flares are normal but do have an impact on every aspect of your life. In simple terms a flare can be described as “a sudden increased severity in symptoms that can hit at any time”.

For many patients having a flare is disheartening, they feel that they have been managing their arthritis/connective tissue disease well and doing all the right things by taking their medication regularly and maintaining a healthy balance of exercise and activity, then one day they wake up and feel like it was all for nothing.…

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Get a grip on PIP

As an active member of the Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC), the Arthritis Research UK policy, campaigns and public affairs teams have worked closely with the Chairs of the coalition on the DBC’s new report. The report demonstrating the huge problems which many people experience when trying to access Personal Independence Payments, and includes statistics from the DBC Big Benefits Survey – with over 1500 responses specifically from people with musculoskeletal conditions- and an in depth case study provided by Arthritis Research UK about Debs, who had her PIP reduced and lost her Motability care as a result.…

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Rehab Matters – Raising the profile of community rehabilitation

Guest blog by Catherine Pope, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Chair.

Jane left hospital after a stroke and was seen promptly at home by a physiotherapist, who worked with other members of the multidisciplinary team to develop a plan for her recovery.

Members of that team visited regularly, and Jane made strong progress – supported by her husband, Robert – towards achieving her goal of getting back out into her garden and getting her green fingers dirty.

Meanwhile, another Jane, in another part of the country – perhaps even the neighbouring town – realised no such goal.…

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October is Lupus Awareness Month

We would like to remind everyone that October is Lupus Awareness Month. Throughout the month LUPUS UK will be sharing facts, videos, information and case studies on social media. We would be very grateful to any organisations that can spread the word about our #THISISLUPUS campaign and direct people towards the LUPUS UK website for more information or support.

Three LUPUS UK Factsheets Revised and Updated

Three factsheets have recently been revised and updated to meet the requirements of The Information Standard.

…

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A Guide to Rheumatology: Parliamentary briefing

In late September, BSR are releasing ‘A Guide to Rheumatology: Parliamentary briefing,’ which seeks to address the challenges and opportunities faced by the rheumatology multidisciplinary team and identify ways to improve the treatment and care received by individuals with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. It highlights the significant difficulties experienced by rheumatology services and the patients they serve: 

  • Waiting times: 38% of patients in England with suspected rheumatoid arthritis were assessed within three weeks of referral.
  • Diagnostic delay: Only 18% of patients in England were referred to rheumatology within the NICE recommended three days of presentation to their GP.
…

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Smartwatch health study for the over 50s with knee pain

Cloudy and the University of Manchester are recruiting for a pioneering smartwatch study called Koalap (knee osteoarthritis: linking activity and pain) which starts in September. They are looking at the link between activity and knee pain.

This is part of the hugely successful Cloudy with a Chance of Pain study, which used citizen science phone app data to explore the relationship between weather and chronic pain conditions. Over 13,000 people took part and we featured on BBC’s “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor”, BBC Breakfast and ITV News, as well as all national newspapers.…

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Please distribute the new NRAS Work Survey

The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) launched its new Work Survey last week. This will investigate the experiences of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Adult Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), any impact it has had on people’s ability to work and how it affects people in the workplace.

The research will allow NRAS to draw comparisons with its previous Work Survey 10 years ago and enable future campaigning to focus on matters that affect people with RA the most at work.…

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Mental wellbeing research

Arthritis Care published new research to launch our Wake up to arthritis campaign during Arthritis Care Week. The report, Hidden impact: Arthritis and mental wellbeing, revealed the huge emotional toll of living with arthritis. Findings are based on over 3,000 survey responses from people with arthritis.

Findings include:

  • 79 per cent feel anxious or depressed because of their arthritis
  • 89 per cent worry about how arthritis will affect their future independence
  • Four in five (80 per cent) have given up activities they enjoy
  • Half (50 per cent) feel isolated or lonely because of their arthritis

Find out more about this research and read the full report here.…

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PortsHosp – Dads and Mums with Arthritis Summer update

Portsmouth ARMA Network

DaM It Arthritis- Dads and Mums with Arthritis

Calling all Dads and Mums living with Arthritis and Connective Tissue diseases!
What do you need from a Rheumatology Service?

As we re-launch our “DaM it Arthritis” project, we would like to hear from you about what you need from local Rheumatology Services. We appreciate that having arthritis and connective tissue diseases can have an impact on personal, family and work-life balance and we are seeking your opinion on other aspects of support that you require from the Department of Rheumatology.…

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New Self-Management Event in Leicester

Arthritis Action in collaboration with CLASH – Community Leicester Arthritis Self-Help group – will be holding a two-day Self-Management Event in Leicester on :-

Wednesday 28th June 2017 at 2.00 pm – 4.30 pm
and
Thursday 29th June 2017 at 10.30am – 1.00 pm

We aim to help our attendees take control of the symptoms of their arthritis, with the event covering topics such as:
  • The impact of physical therapies
  • How you can best manage your pain
  • The benefits of exercise and a healthy diet
  • Ways to work in partnership with healthcare professionals

This SME Leicester event will be free of charge and refreshments will be provided, and is open to all.…

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