Fostering conversations to transform MSK healthcare

Insights from the Versus Arthritis National MSK Health Data Group

This month’s guest blog comes from Versus Arthritis with guest bloggers Karen Hodgson, Head of Health Intelligence, and Emma Tomlinson, Health Intelligence Portfolio Officer sharing insights from the MSK Health Data Group and hopes for its future.

Over 10 million people live with arthritis in the UK. It can impact on all aspects of our lives affecting how we move, think, and feel. To effectively treat, manage, and ultimately prevent arthritis we need to understand the experiences of people with arthritis, their access to health services and factors that impact their conditions.  Versus Arthritis regularly publishes the State of Musculoskeletal Health Report as a resource of the key statistics relating to MSK conditions, but there is also a need to share, discuss and interpret the latest knowledge from MSK health data.

Enter the Versus Arthritis National Musculoskeletal (MSK) Health Data Group…

Versus Arthritis formed the National MSK Health Data group 10 years ago in response to this need. It occurs twice a year, in June and December and brings together researchers, academics, policy makers, public health leads, professional societies, and patient charities to discuss ways to help improve the quality, availability, relevance, and use of musculoskeletal (MSK) data, and ultimately transform the lives of people with arthritis and related conditions.

The event has had a successful track record of bringing together like-minded people to start new projects, join existing projects or working groups, inspire new ideas, and learn from each other’s successes and challenges.

Meetings feature a range of speakers working within academic, NHS and government settings all sharing their insights from data with discussions at the most recent meeting touching on…

  • Principles of co-designing services to build trust and support addressing health inequalities
  • Factors which can have an impact on absence from work due to MSK conditions
  • Funding opportunities for data led projects

If you would like to join our next meeting of the National musculoskeletal health data group, please sign up here.

Our hope for the future of the National MSK Health Data Group…

We aim to use the event to foster discussions that bring together multiple perspectives, challenge assumptions and help ensure the insights we draw from data are working to drive forwards our goal that people with arthritis have access to the treatments and support they need to live the lives they choose.

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