Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
The Nuffield Foundation, in partnership with Versus Arthritis, has announced £4 million for new research funding to improve the social and economic wellbeing of people living with musculoskeletal conditions in the UK. Applicants should develop interdisciplinary proposals that can help identify, develop and enhance non-clinical policy and practice interventions.
The deadline for outline applications is 14 March 2022.
Find out more and apply via the Nuffield Foundation website.
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Osteoporosis and Bone Health published a report into the long-standing postcode lottery in the NHS for osteoporosis care. The report highlights the scale of under-diagnosis, under-treatment and missed opportunities in the NHS, with a blueprint for change. Implementation of the blueprint in England and Wales could save the NHS around £287m over five years – a return on investment of around 3:1 – according to the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), which has supported the Inquiry.…
Read more of this article
How a research trial will support people living with knee pain and osteoarthritis though advice, exercise and knee braces
Knee pain affects one in four people over 45 years in the UK. The most common cause is osteoarthritis, but many people will suffer without getting the diagnosis.
Osteoarthritis and its symptoms vary a lot and negatively affect people’s daily lives. There is no cure for osteoarthritis, but with treatment, symptoms can be improved and allow people to stay active.
Wearing a knee brace is one of the options that could help by reducing the load going through the joint and improving its stability.…
Read more of this article
A new publication from National Voices Timely access to care: Principles for recovery argues for an inclusive, equitable and person-centred recovery, focusing on the whole person, in the context of their lives, and the whole system, and the context within which it is operating. There are three sets of recommendations: one for government and system leaders, one for people planning and delivering services and one for the VCSE.
Access the document here.
In 2016, the Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis at the University of Manchester ran a large study, collecting data about people’s symptoms and comparing this to the weather.
Using this data, the researchers are now aiming to build a pain forecast. This will be like a weather forecast but used for predicting pain severity in the near future. Being able to forecast pain severity in this way will provide benefits for patients in the future.
In this second phase, a survey will ask people with chronic pain what information that they would be interested in receiving about pain severity.…
Read more of this article
The report, Driving Improvements in Axial SpA Services: Building Foundations through Aspiring to Excellence was produced and published by the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS), and launched on 22 October 2021. This is the first detailed account of service improvement projects undertaken by rheumatology teams across the UK as part of the Aspiring to Excellence programme.
Every team on the programme is working on a project that will improve diagnosis, treatment and care for patients with axial SpA.…
Read more of this article
Independent Age, a charity for those in later life, has launched a new report titled ‘Patiently waiting: Older people’s experiences of waiting for surgery’. The report highlights the challenges for older people in England waiting for surgical procedures, and the impact waiting has on their mental, emotional and physical health. It also features what older people would like in terms of support and information as they wait for surgery.
Waiting times for treatment have been increasing over the past five years.…
Read more of this article
The British Psoriatic Arthritis Consortium has worked with the James Lind Alliance to run a priority setting partnership (PSP), and in August launched their ‘Top Ten’ list of research priorities for psoriatic arthritis. These have been agreed upon by patients, carers and clinicians, and the launch marks the culmination of the psoriatic arthritis PSP research.
Brit-PACT is delighted to reveal the Top Ten Psoriatic Arthritis Research Priorities, agreed upon by people who are living with psoriatic arthritis, carers and healthcare professionals.…
Read more of this article
Public Health England has published a report on the wider impacts of COVID-19 on physical activity, deconditioning and falls in older adults. The study modelled the likely effect of the decrease in strength and balance activity observed during the pandemic on people who experience a fall, the number of falls and associated health and social care costs.
Key findings
Some of the key findings were:
Guest blog by Dr Michelle Farr, Research Fellow at University of Bristol and the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West)
People who experience long-term pain have important insights and strategies that help them manage pain in everyday life. However, they are often not invited to share their knowledge and skills to inform the services that are meant to support them. ARMA has been highlighting the importance of working in partnership with patients and how co-production, where patients and professionals work together, can improve pain services.…
Read more of this article
