Patients | ARMA

Relaunched Managing JIA in School booklet

On World Arthritis Day, JIA-at-NRAS relaunched their Managing JIA in School booklet. The update provides information on all aspects of education and is a useful resource for parents, teachers and for the child themselves. There is more information about how to inform the school about your child’s JIA, individual health care plan, tips for teachers and children and how to manage flares in school.

There are also a range of articles aimed at improving the experience of going through school with JIA, with helpful information on a range of aspects of school life, including completing an Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP) and covering letter to the school, coping with exam stress and minimising the effect of heavy school bags on the joints.…

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New & improved app for teens and young adults

After a successful launch last year, Versus Arthritis has exciting news about the next evolution of their free app, “Arthritis Tracker”. Available on Android and iPhone, the symptom and wellbeing tracker can help health professionals make the most of the time they have with patients and quickly get an understanding of some the key issues that a young person is facing, leaving more time to discuss treatment options.

“The app is great – I am actively encouraging young people in my clinic to use it.…

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New stretching videos to help keep moving and manage your arthritis

Versus Arthritis has developed ten new stretching ‘follow along’ videos specifically to help people with arthritis to maintain flexibility and to help relieve stiffness.

The 15-minute ‘follow along’ format means that the videos can be easily incorporated into people’s daily routine. All of the exercises are designed to be done at home with some of the fun movements making use of everyday household objects.

This video series will form a key part of Let’s Move, a dedicated programme funded by Sport England for people with arthritis who want more movement in their lives.…

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SMILE-RA from NRAS

Working closely with health professionals and people living with RA, NRAS has created SMILE-RA- a platform to support people with self-management of their RA. With an intuitive interface, the modules can be selected which are of interest and relevance.

The modules available are the following:

Foundation
Newly Diagnosed
Meet the Team
Managing pain and Flares

New modules will continue to be added as they are developed. Visit nras.org.uk/selfmanagement for more information!

Hear from NRAS National Patient Champion, Ailsa Bosworth MBE, explaining in this video what supported self-management is all about and how SMILE, can help people living with RA.

RCPod foot arthritis patient resources

In collaboration with a number of partners the Royal College of Podiatry has developed a number of resources for people who suffer with arthritis in their feet. The main resource is available through the web page and can be accessible in over 100 languages. There are also favourable downloads in leaflet form for those wishing to pass the information on.

Please visit rcpod.org.uk/patient-information/arthritis for further information.

Post-viral fatigue after COVID

It is estimated that one in 10 people still have symptoms 12 weeks after falling ill with COVID-19. Experts at BASRAT have compiled this infographic to aid recovery from Long COVID and post-viral fatigue.

Experts at BASRAT have compiled this infographic to aid recovery from Long COVID and post-viral fatigue.

The infographic includes the latest knowledge and input from Graduate Sport Rehabilitators working with COVID patients. The content and terminology has been tailored to help patients and reinforce confidence that the fatigue they experience is manageable and treatable.

Pain Alliance Europe Chronic Pain Survey

The Pain Alliance Europe is inviting people with chronic pain or their caregivers to take part in their 2021 survey on diagnosis and treatment. It’s available in 15 languages.

This is a second version of the survey The Pain Alliance Europe conducted in 2017. It will compare the responses from four years ago with the situation now, to see if there have been improvements over time.

PAE will use the survey results as a snapshot of the lives of people with chronic pain across Europe – the picture may vary from country to country.…

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Warwick study of mental defeat in chronic pain (WITHIN study)

Do you have chronic pain?
Volunteers are needed to take part in psychological research which aims to help explain distress and disability in chronic pain.

The WITHIN Study is funded by the Medical Research Council and is investigating to what extent mental defeat explains variations in pain severity, distress, and disability in the long term in patients with chronic pain.

If you are interested in taking part in the online questionnaire, complete the screening questionnaire to see if you are eligible.…

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NRAS #WearPurpleForJIA – Wellbeing week

The last year has been a difficult one for most children so NRAS will be having a #WearPurpleForJIA Wellbeing Week on 14^th-18^th June. Each day during the week children and young people with JIA will be offered wellbeing classes including art, yoga, photography, dance and a relaxation/mental health class. In the evenings NRAS is hosting Facebook Live sessions discussing all things JIA and one where the children can ask the healthcare professionals questions.

It would be lovely to have you all involved to help raise awareness that children and young people can get arthritis too.…

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HMSA local groups update

HMSA local groups are still meeting virtually and this month’s theme is “Hobbies and Achievements”. It’s where the group get to share what they do for hobbies and explain how they overcome any obstacles with physical restrictions. It’s a bit of a ‘show and tell’ meeting and it’s always great to see how talented and inventive the participants are!

Here are the meeting dates for April:

Group	Date	Time	Group email address
Nottingham	11/4 & 24/4	2:00 PM	notts@hypermobility.org
Gateshead	17/4	10:30 AM	gateshead@hypermobility.org

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