Research | ARMA

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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Guest Blog: NHS Staff Survey – Looking after our healthcare staff

By Chris Graham, Chief Executive, Picker Institute Europe

Arguments about the pressures on the NHS at a system level are well rehearsed; rising demand, financial restraint, and challenges around staffing numbers are well reported. But what of the impact of caring on healthcare professionals as people?

The NHS Staff Survey is an annual survey that aims to help providers to understand how it feels to work in the health service. In 2016, it recorded the experiences of more than 423,000 members of NHS staff – and provides fascinating insight into the health and wellbeing of NHS staff.…

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Management guideline for adults with Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome

British Society for Rheumatology publishes first UK guideline for the management of adults with Primary Sjögrens Syndrome

The first UK guideline on the care of adults with Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome has been published today by the British Society of Rheumatology. The guidelines are accredited by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which recognises robust, evidence-based and critically evaluated high-quality processes applied to developing a clinical guideline.

Clinical guidelines are particularly important for patients with less common conditions like Sjögren’s because health professionals can lack confidence in managing treatment and care.…

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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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Use of the Social Value Act by healthcare commissioners

New research conducted by National Voices and Social Enterprise UK has found that only 13% of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) can clearly show that they are actively committed to pursuing social value in their procurement and commissioning decisions.

The Public Services (Social Value Act) 2012 requires commissioners to consider broader social, economic and environmental benefits to their area when making commissioning decisions. The Act was a response to the risk of competitive tendering focusing solely on cost at the expense of other forms of value.…

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New Work Survey by NRAS

The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) is running a new Work Survey and is pleased to be collaborating with the Centre for Musculoskeletal Research at the University of Manchester.

The Work Survey will investigate the experiences of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Adult Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), any impact it has had on your ability to work and how it affects you in the workplace.

The research comes 10 years after the publication of the ‘I Want to Work’ report and will enable NRAS to draw comparisons about any progress achieved over the last decade in relation to work, health and disability.…

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Consensus sought on exercise and osteoporosis

The National Osteoporosis Society is embarking on a new project designed to support people with osteoporosis and fragility fractures to exercise safely. The charity is calling on health professionals and people with the condition to submit any questions they have about exercise and osteoporosis as they scope a Consensus Statement.

The new statement will be used to help standardise the information people living with osteoporosis receive about the best exercises and physical activity to safely strengthen bones. It will also help the National Osteoporosis Society to produce new publications and web based resources on exercise for people with the condition to use, based on the best evidence and expertise.…

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Providing physical activity for people with musculoskeletal conditions

This month Arthritis Research UK launched the new report ‘Providing physical activity interventions for people with musculoskeletal conditions’ at the Local Government Association/Associated Directors of Public Health conference on the 9^th of March, where we also ran a policy session outlining the work in the report and the wider relationship between physical activity and musculoskeletal health.

Joining us at the event were speakers from Public Heath England, the Royal Borough of Greenwich and an expert patient on exercising with arthritis and we were very pleased that delegates from a wide range of professional backgrounds attended the session. …

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Bisphosphonates

There have been reports in the media recently about a new study highlighting that patients taking drugs like alendronate for osteoporosis might weaken rather than strengthen bones. The National Osteoporosis Society, with our expert clinical advisers, has produced a response to this so that people with the condition can make an informed decision about their treatment. Radio 4’s The Today Programme and Inside Health have both covered this issue, and as a charity we have received calls from people with osteoporosis asking about treatments.…

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