Sport and Exercise Medicine

Musculoskeletal health hub pilot expanding

Musculoskeletal health hub pilot expands to 100 sites as MSK cost to UK hits £5bn a year

The second phase of the UK’s MSK health hub pilot will see the service rolled out to an additional 85 swimming pools and leisure centres from February 2023.

The scheme – a collaboration between UK Active, Good Boost, Orthopaedic Research UK, Escape Pain and Arthritis Action – launched last year across 15 sites to support individuals suffering from musculoskeletal health problems. As well as a presence in physical locations, it also provides users with access to a tablet and app for customised guidance and at-home support.…

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Trailblazing MSK pilot expanding to 100 leisure centres

ukactive’s pilot to transform leisure centres, swimming pools, and gyms into musculoskeletal (MSK) health hubs has been expanded to 100 sites across the UK, as the sector grows its services for the community.

The programme behind the pilot has been designed and provided in collaboration between Good Boost, ukactive, Orthopaedic Research UK, ESCAPE-pain, and Arthritis Action – demonstrating how the fitness and leisure sector can work together to reduce the burden on the healthcare system. Read the full press release.

Versus Arthritis Let’s Move for Surgery

Versus Arthritis has launched their brand new Let’s Move for Surgery physical activity resources for people with arthritis waiting for or recovering from joint replacement surgery. The Surgery Toolkit includes a series of tailor-made, follow-along exercise videos for hip, shoulder and knee, as well as full body workouts to help maintain overall fitness. It also features personal stories and advice from those living with arthritis who have been through or are awaiting joint replacement surgery, as well as tips on keeping active from a physiotherapist.…

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Physical Activity Resources from Moving Medicine

Moving Medicine Launches Physical Activity Resources on Anxiety, Type 1 Diabetes, Obesity, and Menopause

Moving Medicine have launched four new resources designed to help healthcare professionals have better conversations about physical activity with people suffering from anxiety, people with type 1 diabetes, people who are obese, and people experiencing menopause.

The free online consultation guides cover the main benefits of physical activity, as well as addressing common barriers that healthcare professionals encounter when talking to people about becoming more active and offering support and ideas on how to navigate them.…

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Guest blog: No pain, no gain?

Looking differently at leisure places as spaces for chronic pain management

by Ben Wilkins, CEO, Good Boost

15.5 million people in England live with chronic pain. Approximately 5.5 million (12% of the population) have high-impact chronic pain, where pain makes it an on-going challenge to take part in daily activities (Versus Arthritis, 2021). The main contributing factor for 8-in-10 people living with chronic pain are musculoskeletal conditions, such as osteoarthritis, back and neck pain. For people living with this, it’s not just a ‘ache in your back’ or a ‘twinge in your knee’, it’s an unrelenting and all-consuming part of everyday life.…

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International opportunities and global standards

Members of BASRaT will soon be able to work abroad thanks to the new international arrangement between ARTI Ireland, BASRaTorg, BOCATC US and CATA Canada.

The agreement will enhance skills, practices and education standards of sport rehabilitators and athletic trainers in the UK, Canada, America and Ireland due to the agreement ensuring comparable best practices, quality education and professional standards.

The international agreement for the profession of athletic training and therapy plays a key role in optimising care, injury prevention, rehabilitation and supporting the rights of patients and the public to achieve their potential to live well.…

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BASRaT edited BJSM issue

July’s edition of British Journal of Sports Medicine is edited by BASRAT Chief Executive, Steve Aspinall and references ARMA

BJSM’s July issue is an invaluable read. Edited by BASRaT Chief Executive, Steve Aspinall, Steve focusses on both treating the patient in front of you and the power of language: integrating research into effective clinical practice.

“In a year of great turmoil and hardship for the vast majority of society, it has also been a time for organisations, professional associations and healthcare bodies to come together, working to bring about positive change and give everybody, regardless of who or where they are, the right to rehabilitation.…

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Post-viral fatigue after COVID

It is estimated that one in 10 people still have symptoms 12 weeks after falling ill with COVID-19. Experts at BASRAT have compiled this infographic to aid recovery from Long COVID and post-viral fatigue.

Experts at BASRAT have compiled this infographic to aid recovery from Long COVID and post-viral fatigue.

The infographic includes the latest knowledge and input from Graduate Sport Rehabilitators working with COVID patients. The content and terminology has been tailored to help patients and reinforce confidence that the fatigue they experience is manageable and treatable.

Free sport and exercise medicine seminars

Bookings are now open for an upcoming series of free sport and exercise medicine seminars delivered by the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine that will explore current issues relevant to all SEM practitioners.

Running every Thursday evening in April, the sessions will feature presentations from leading clinicians and academics as well as those with lived experience. Exploring the importance of physical activity in areas like COVID-19 recovery and mental health, these seminars will deliver engaging, informative content that will help improve your practice.…

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COVID-19 and older people

The Centre for Ageing Better and The Physiological Society have produced a report: A National COVID-19 Resilience Programme.

The report says that home confinement in older people may cause: (i) cardio respiratory and metabolic deconditioning, (ii) insulin resistance, (iii) muscle loss and (iv) increased fat mass. In addition, social isolation may be worsened.

The report makes recommendations including a tailored exercise programme and broad interventions to support increased activity levels; optimising nutrition and embedding behaviour change.

Read the report here [opens in PDF]