Our summary reports provide information on the progress and findings from some of our studies. You can find details on our latest reports here.
Improving support to work resources for people living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions
RHEUMAPS Work Support Resources Report
Technical Report Series (2024/002)
July 2024
https://doi.org/10.57064/2164/23927
Supporting people with health conditions to remain in work is a UK government priority. Rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions greatly impact people’s working lives, including conditions such as inflammatory arthritis (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis), rare autoimmune conditions such as lupus and vasculitis, and other painful conditions such as osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia. They are one of the most common causes of days lost from work in the UK and people deciding to stop work earlier than intended.
Several resources and interventions are available to enable healthcare professionals to better support their patients to work well. In the UK numerous musculoskeletal charities websites and other online resources such as Healthtalk.org and the Pain Toolkit, provide work-related information and support for patients. However, people living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions report that consultations with healthcare professionals are mainly focused on medical aspects of their condition and medications, and that work issues are rarely discussed. Support with work-related challenges often remains an unmet need for people with living with these conditions.
This report explores the awareness and use of work-related support services amongst people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions and online work resources provided by UK musculoskeletal charities to identify specific areas for improvement.
Read the report here.
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Meeting the care priorities of people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions: priorities for action
RHEUMAPS Care Priority Report
Technical Report Series (2024/001)
July 2024
https://doi.org/10.57064/2164/23928
Where people live can present a significant challenge to delivering timely and equitable healthcare. To effectively plan local and national services to meet the needs of people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), we need to understand how many people have these conditions, who they are, where they live and how this relates to existing services. It is also important to understand people’s care priorities, recognising that these might be different for different groups of patients, and what resources and services people feel are important, missing, or could be improved.
This report summarises the priorities for care of people living with a broad range of RMDS across the UK and the resources and services needed to meet these needs. It outlines a number of policy and practice recommendations to address the gaps identified.
Read the report here.
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