We are delighted to announce the award of further funding which will allow the group to begin a new study to adapt the Making it Work programme, and to extend the duration of our BSR-PsA registry project.
Making it Work™
We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded a Chief Scientist Office Research Grant of £224,648 in order to investigate adapting the Making it Work™ to the Scottish context.
Making it Work™ is a programme which was developed by researchers in Canada to support people with inflammatory arthritis to stay in work for as long as they wish to do so. We plan to build on this platform to substantially expand the remit of the programme to also include non-inflammatory MSK conditions such as osteoarthritis, chronic pain and fibromyalgia. Gathering feedback and input from patients, employers and clinicians, the study will identify which aspects of the current programme can be transplanted directly, which will need to be adapted, and how the programme can be delivered within the context of the NHS in Scotland. Ultimately the project will inform a future study which will aim to deliver the programme to a broad group of individuals who are struggling with work due to having a musculoskeletal condition.
Principle Investigator Dr LaKrista Morton said:
“We are delighted to be able to take forward this important work to develop a supportive programme for people who are struggling with different aspects of their work due to having a musculoskeletal condition. We know that there are physical, psychological, and social impacts of having a musculoskeletal condition on people’s ability to work – for example, struggling with fatigue or concentration. We hope that by developing a programme with input from patients, employers and health care professionals, that we will ultimately be able to help individuals manage these challenges with support from their employers and care team.“
The study is due to commence in 2022, and will run for 24 months.
BSR-PsA
We are also delighted to announce that funding of the British Society for Rheumatology Psoriatic Arthritis Register has been extended.
This register is a large prospective cohort study of patients with psoriatic arthritis and has been recruiting patients since September 2018. The additional funding will allow recruitment to continue until late 2024 with patient follow-up continuing until September 2025. This will allow up to 7yrs of follow-up for patients in the register.
Chief Investigator Professor Gareth Jones said:
"The additional research funding will allow us to identify rarer adverse events (if they occur), while also providing additional statistical power for the main study analysis. This will help minimise the uncertainty around any estimates of risk – and estimates of benefit – associated with biologic and other targeted therapies in psoriatic arthritis."
The study will now run until 31st March 2026.
Further information about the British Society for Rheumatology Psoriatic Arthritis Register is available from: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bsr-psa