Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
The World Health Organisation have recently published a new guideline for non-surgical management of chronic primary low back pain in adults in both primary and community care settings.
Recommendations include physical, (one) pharmacological and psychological interventions.
“Putting our backs into it…”
With an estimated 540 million people in the world suffering with low back pain at any one time, It remains one of the leading causes of years lived with disability, and the biggest single cause of disability on the planet today.
It will therefore come as no surprise that it is also the largest cause of work absences, accounting for more than 12 million days lost every year in the UK, alone. Back pain presents a major challenge to health systems and employers alike, and costs the NHS and the UK economy billions of pounds every year.…
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The basis of the webinar was to provide a closer insight into back pain whatever the cause and to evaluate alleviating back pain from three different angles, these being: therapies, minimally invasive surgery and medication, with each area represented by an expert in the field.
Dr Brian Hammond PhD, Vice President of the National Back Pain Association (more commonly known as BackCare) discussed therapies; Dr Basil Almahdi, Consultant Pain Specialist analysed surgery and minimally invasive treatments of problems caused by degenerative spinal disease; and Dr Anthony Ordman, past president of the pain medicine section of the Royal Society of Medicine, reviewed medicines with a special interest in cannabinoids.…
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The 2020 Backcare Awareness Week runs from 5-9 October.
The theme for this year’s campaign is Back Pain in Nursing.
The campaign will, with the assistance of BackCare‘s flagship publication Handling of People (HOP6), prevent significant back injuries in the Nursing profession. Many nurses will benefit from training which is provided by the National Back Exchange organisation.
Display packs are now available to order from the BackCare webshop. The pack contents include:
Visit the Backcare Awareness Week page on the BackCare website for updates.
NICE has published the final guidelines on Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s: assessment and management. Supporting evidence, tools and resources as well as all the stakeholder comments are available. NICE said the comments were invaluable in refining the guidelines. NICE produced an equality impact assessment too.
NICE included the recommendations of this guidelines in the NICE Pathway on Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s: assessment and management. There is an interactive flowchart which brings everything together from the guideline.…
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Health Education England e-Learning for Healthcare (HEE e-LfH) has worked with ESCAPE-pain and the Health Innovation Network to develop two e-learning resources, aimed at helping healthcare professionals and exercise instructors understand the principles behind the ESCAPE-pain programme – facilitating group education and exercise sessions for people living with chronic joint pain and learning how the programme may be implemented in their organisation.
What is the ESCAPE-pain programme?
ESCAPE-pain is an evidence-based and cost-effective group rehabilitation programme for people with chronic joint pain.…
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I’ve read a few things about how hard it is to get going after the festive break, or “blue Monday” part way through January, rumoured to be the most depressing day of the year. I’ve had a very different experience this year with a positive start to 2020. January has involved conversations and planning for our 2020 activities. Lots of positivity from members and stakeholders means I’m optimistic and looking forward to a successful year.
One of the things our members want to focus on is multidisciplinary working – how different MSK professionals can work better together, with each other and with patients.…
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Designing care for people living with both mental health problems and persistent back and neck pain
by Jenna Collins, Marketing and Communications Manager, Q Labs, The Health Foundation
In September 2018, the Q Improvement Lab (part of the Health Foundation) and Mind embarked on a year-long collaboration to understand how care can be improved across mental health and persistent back and neck pain.
The Q Lab and Mind have recently shared the first insights from 
this work, drawing on the experiences of over 100 collaborators to give an overview of why this challenge warrants attention and promising opportunities to improve care.…
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NASS was delighted to launch the NASS Allies referral template, in conjunction with the Institute of Osteopathy and Royal College of Chiropractors, at the Primary Care and Public Health Conference on 15 and 16 May. The template was developed to help chiropractors and osteopaths in recommending referral for patients with suspected inflammatory back pain to rheumatology.
The template has been endorsed by the Royal College of GPs and Chartered Society for Physiotherapy. NASS is grateful to both the Institute of Osteopathy and Royal College of Chiropractors for their continued collaboration and wonderfully patient-centred approach.…
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Action is needed to tackle £646 million burden of bone, joint and muscle problems, a new ARMA report says.
Industry leaders called for action to tackle the huge burden of bone, joint and muscle conditions on people in the construction industry, in a report released today (30/05/2019). Physically demanding work means the construction industry has one of the highest rates of musculoskeletal disorders costing £646 million every year – accounting for over three-quarters of all occupational ill-health costs.
The report from the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA) followed a roundtable meeting of industry leaders.…
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