Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
NASS hosting Facebook Live with BSR on latest medication guidance during pregnancy and breastfeeding
The British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) will be live on the NASS Facebook page at 1pm, 15 December 2022 to explain the latest guidance on medication for inflammatory arthritis when you’re trying for a baby, pregnant or breastfeeding. The video will stay on the Facebook page and be uploaded to the NASS website afterwards.
Watch the video here on Facebook from 15 December.
The British Chiropractic Association Launches Patient Charter to Members and the Public
In November, the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) launched its new Patient Charter to its members and the general public, as part of the second phase of its ‘Repositioning Project’ which aims to continue the BCA’s mission to be ‘the home of chiropractors who put patients first’. The Patient Charter is a pledge, from BCA chiropractors to their patients, to remind them of the quality care they’ll receive which is laid out in such a way that any patient can start a conversation from it, and any chiropractor can explain it without much labour.…
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This autumn/winter, flu vaccination and COVID-19 boosters will be critical to maximising uptake of both vaccines amongst eligible groups.
An integrated campaign will encourage uptake by signalling the importance of both vaccines and informing the public about the threat of both viruses circulating this winter, to overcome barriers and remind people of the benefits of vaccines.
Eligible cohorts for the COVID-19 autumn booster vaccine:
Eligible cohorts for the free flu vaccine:
On World Arthritis Day, Versus Arthritis sought to shine a light on the crisis people with arthritis are facing this winter — by calling on the Prime Minister to take urgent action to protect them.
In September, Versus Arthritis surveyed almost 4,000 people with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions to ask how the cost-of-living crisis was affecting them, and the results were staggering: 94% of people saying that cold weather has a negative impact on their condition, but 84% are using less fuel because of rising costs.…
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The Hypermobility Syndromes Association gets a lot of questions about children struggling with the return to school, and enquiries from teachers looking to support hypermobile students as we approach half term.
HMSA has prepared the School Toolkit for EDS and JHS to address this need.
You can pick up the printed resource for educators in the HMSA shop, or for more information on how to help, browse the online toolkit that the HMSA launched with EDS UK last year:
RA Awareness Week took place on 12-17 September, and the theme this year was to dispel the myths that surround living with Rheumatoid Arthritis, with a brand new #RAFactOrFiction quiz.
NRAS needs your help to spread awareness of the condition, and you can do this by sharing the #RAFactOrFiction quiz with your friends and family, to help people understand more about the condition and the impact it has on people’s lives.
We know that those of you in the RA community are only too aware of the misconceptions that other people can have around inflammatory arthritis, so this quiz has been designed to educate the general public about the condition.…
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During RA Awareness Week, NRAS CEO Clare Jacklin was joined in conversation by actress Sheila Hancock. You can watch now to see Sheila speak about current affairs, her acting career and her life living with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Pain Concern would like to announce their new podcast episode, Sharing pain – how group consultations can help with long COVID and other conditions.
Episode description: Airing Pain producer, Paul Evans, spoke to doctors and patients at Berkshire Pain Clinic and Woodley Centre Surgery about managing the symptoms of Long COVID, the importance of group consultations and the similarities between Long COVID and other chronic conditions. The episode also explores the multi-disciplinary approach at the clinic, and includes interviews with a range of medical staff on how they help people to manage their symptoms.…
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Last month, Sarah Leyland, osteoporosis specialist nurse and clinical adviser at Royal Osteoporosis Society, presented information on osteoporosis and fractures, and the link between corticosteroid use and having rheumatoid arthritis.
You can watch a recording of the webinar on the NRAS Facebook page here.
NHS England has published a suite of eight decision support tools covering varying conditions along with guidance on how to use them and evaluating the impact.
Four of these relate to MSK conditions:
Decision support tools (DSTs), also called patient decision aids, support shared decision making (SDM) by making treatment, care and support options explicit, providing evidence-based information about the associated benefits and risks, and helping people to consider what matters most to them in relation to the possible outcomes, including doing nothing.…
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