Resources | ARMA

Managing Persistent Pain e-learning resource

A new e-learning resource available to all healthcare professionals working across roles and sectors in Wales entitled “Managing Persistent Pain”. It has been by launched by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).

This package has been developed in collaboration by HEIW, primary care representatives and pharmacy colleagues together with the National Clinical Lead for Persistent Pain. The resource has been developed to encourage healthcare professionals to think more broadly about the management persistent pain rather than focusing on medication and interventions.…

Read more of this article

The State of Musculoskeletal Health 2024

The State of Musculoskeletal Health is Versus Arthritis’ annual statistics compendium of the most up-to-date, UK-wide statistics on arthritis and other musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. This includes how many people have these conditions, who is at risk of developing these conditions, and its impact on people, the health system and society. Health inequalities relating to musculoskeletal conditions have been highlighted throughout the document.

The new 2024 version includes new topics, including new data on chronic pain in Scotland and a summary of prevalence figures for some of the main types of arthritis.…

Read more of this article

Bridging the Gap Report

We Are Undefeatable has launched the report from Big Talk, a public consultation which went live last year. Read more about their report "Bridging the gap: understanding how to support people with long term health conditions to become more physically active".

The report covers:

The motivators and barriers that people living with long term health conditions face being active
Why the NHS is only a starting point for people with health conditions to become more active
How the ‘empathy gap’ may be hindering support for people with health conditions
The pivotal role that health charities can and must play in supporting physical activity
What friends, families and professionals need to feel more confident encouraging physical activity
Why local leadership and coordination is a critical enabler
The views of professionals across a range of sectors

The report outlines the actions We Are Undefeatable is already taking in response to these insights.…

Read more of this article

Recent publications on health inequalities

There have been a number of publications and toolkits on health inequalities published in recent weeks. These are not MSK-specific but will include useful information, data and resources for those working in MSK.

Illustrating the relationship between poverty and NHS services is a long read from the Kings Fund.

Health inequalities in 2040
Current and projected patterns of illness by deprivation in England.
The Health Foundation lists chronic pain as one of the 4 conditions projected to increase at a faster rate in more deprived areas.…

Read more of this article

No NRAS Live this month!

Due to many of the NRAS team going to the BSR conference later in the month, there is unfortunately no NRAS Live this month. However, if you have missed any of their live broadcasts – remember you can watch ALL previous NRAS Lives via their YouTube channel.

They have even made this handy playlist, which has all previous lives events in order and ready for a weekend binge!

Refer a patient to NRAS

The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) know the immense pressure faced by rheumatology healthcare teams. Let NRAS be the extra team member you need, by introducing your patients to Right Start.

NRAS works in partnership with the NHS to offer its information and support services to patients who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As a Health Professional, all you have to do is submit a quick form to refer your patient to NRAS and they take care of the rest!

SOMM Tutors’ References for 2024

SOMM’s tutors get together at their Annual Study Day early in the year, as well as meeting on SOMM’s individual courses. As part of their development programme, relevant references to support the musculoskeletal medicine approach are shared, to support the content of SOMM’s Foundation in Musculoskeletal Medicine module.

MSK educators and practitioners might also find them useful and can find them on the document here.

Act Now Report on MSK Health Inequalities and Deprivation

This week ARMA published the Act Now report of the Inquiry on Musculoskeletal Health Inequalities and Deprivation.

The report highlights the impact of social and economic determinants of health on those living with MSK conditions. People with MSK conditions in more deprived areas develop conditions earlier, have more complex cases, yet face far greater challenges in managing their MSK conditions and accessing quality MSK services.

Act Now aims to address the drivers of poor musculoskeletal health acting on people living in deprivation and crucially it brings a focus to the part health services across the UK can play to address inequalities.…

Read more of this article

Webinar: MSK waiting list self-management support

“How to implement self-management support for MSK patients on waiting lists”

Join a live webinar with getUBetter as they share their insights on how to implement digital self-management support for musculoskeletal (MSK) patients on waiting lists.

12% of the UK adult population is on a waiting list, with 10,000 waiting for a T&O operation across an Integrated Care System (ICS). The length of waiting lists, persistent pain, and deconditioning are all a problem. There’s an absolute need to provide evidence-based locally configured peri-operative self-management support and safety netting for patients on waiting lists, wherever they are waiting in the system.…

Read more of this article

Information on Health Inequalities – NHSE

NHS England’s Statement on Information on Health Inequalities (duty under section 13SA of the National Health Service Act 2006) was published in November 2023.

Integrated care boards, trusts and foundation trusts should use this statement to identify key information on health inequalities and set out how they have responded to it in annual reports. The document sets out a range of indications which should be published by relevant NHS bodies in England.

The list does not include any MSK-specific measures, although elective care is included, of which MSK makes up a significant portion.…

Read more of this article