Almost everyone, worldwide, will be affected at some point during their life by a problem involving their joints, bones and muscles. Disability is a major complication, with 4-5% of the world's population disabled by musculoskeletal problems. Conditions include osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, low back pain, osteoporosis and other bone, joint and soft-tissue problems.
GOALS
- Improve prevention, detection and treatment of musculoskeletal problems
- Reduce the impact of symptoms and disability on individuals and communities
- Ensure health workers respond appropriately to patients with musculoskeletal problems
- Help patients to understand their condition and how to rehabilitate
SOLUTIONS
- To work with international experts to develop the highest quality of multimedia training programs that are appropriate for the various levels of health workers and where they work
- Users will see multiple videos of actual cases so they have the chance to gain experience that may otherwise take many years to gain
- To teach the clinical skills needed to diagnose musculoskeletal problems and provide treatment that is proven to be of benefit
- To collect clinical cases from Africa, South East Asia and the UK to ensure relevant context specific training programs are available
- Engage with health workers who will use the training produced to ensure programs developed meet their needs
- To conduct research to provide essential evidence of the impact of training programs on clinical skill and management decisions of users and patients’ understanding of their musculoskeletal problem
TARGETS
- Develop a video intense multimedia training resource for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals for Africa, Asia and Europe/North America/Australasia, covering prevention, detection and treatment of musculoskeletal problems
- Produce pragmatic resources for community health workers globally who see patients in the remotest of settings in resource poor countries
- Provide patient education videos for patients, families and the wider public, to improve awareness and to help rehabilitation following musculoskeletal problems
- To conduct research to supply essential evidence of impact of training on the use of the programs and to inform subsequent versions
- Where possible to investigate the impact of training programs developed on patient outcome
