Pain commonly occurs because of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions such as osteoarthritis, back pain and rheumatoid arthritis. They affect one in four adults and can have a huge impact on how someone lives their life. As well as pain, people can experience high levels of fatigue, stiffness and loss of movement. This affects their ability to work, to look after themselves and to do the things they enjoy. MSK conditions affect people more in deprived areas.
Research has shown that being active can reduce pain, bring back movement and improve musculoskeletal conditions. However, people are often afraid to move because they fear that movement will make their conditions worse and cause them more pain. They may feel that mainstream community activities don’t offer the right kind of help, or don’t meet their needs and physical disability.
The combination of fear of moving, loss of confidence, lack of information and fewer opportunities to be active means that people with MSK conditions often stop moving. Being inactive affects people’s mental health as well as physical health. It can make people socially isolated and can affect their wellbeing, causing low mood and depression. As a result people may find it harder to get the NHS services they need and those who already feel excluded from services become more isolated.
To address this problem, Bristol Bones and Joints HIT worked with local people over 45, who experience joint pain and who had stopped moving, to design a safe and accessible movement programme that met their needs.