Supporting people with musculoskeletal disorders in Scotland to remain in work: adapting the Making it Work™ intervention developed for people with inflammatory arthritis in Canada

Supporting people with musculoskeletal disorders in Scotland to remain in work: adapting the Making it Work™ intervention developed for people with inflammatory arthritis in Canada

Duration: 01 March 2022 - 31 March 2024 (research complete, redevelopment in progress)
Funder: Chief Scientist Office
Chief investigator: Professor Gary Macfarlane
Co-chief investigator: Dr LaKrista Morton
Other co-investigators: Dr Rosemary Hollick , Dr Elaine Wainwright , Dr Diane Lacaille (Arthritis Research Canada), Professor Karen Walker-Bone (University of Southampton)
Research fellow: Dr Cara Ghiglieri
Project coordinator: Stuart Anderson


Musculoskeletal conditions affect around 1 in 3 Scottish adults and have a substantial impact on individuals' work. There is a lack of services supporting individuals with long-term conditions, to help those who wish to remain working to do so. Making it Work™ is an online self-management programme developed in Canada which supports people working with inflammatory arthritis. The programme helped individuals to feel more capable to meet their work demands and reduced the likelihood of periods of sickness absence.

Using group discussions and interviews, we sought input from patients, employers, and healthcare professionals on aspects of the programme to modify and adapt in order to expand it for people with a wider range of musculoskeletal conditions working in Scotland. We then updated the programme to make it suitable for individuals with non-inflammatory conditions such as osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and chronic regional or widespread pain. Working with experts and eLearning specialists, we made essential changes to the programme based on this feedback, and explored further how the programme could be effectively signposted within NHS Scotland and by other individuals with an interest in supporting people working with musculoskeletal conditions.

We have now completed our main revisions of the programme, and have held a round of user-testing which has informed final changes to make to the programme. We aim to have the programme available sometime early in 2025.

Further information