Researchers, doctors and patient groups will today call on
rheumatologists and related healthcare professionals to view their patients
as productive workers and make their staying in work an important outcome in
managing their condition. Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) in Europe account
for 50% of all work-related disorders and 60% of permanent work incapacity in
the EU.
At a Symposium, entitled Fighting Musculoskeletal Diseases to
keep the European population Fit for Work, and part of the 2009 congress of
the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, delegates will hear a
range of evidence showing that early intervention and effective management of
MSDs improves work ability and benefits individuals, society and the
economies they live in. Indeed, in Western Europe, the majority of costs for
lower back pain, ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis are in fact
indirect costs, i.e. in measures such as lost work productivity. The
Symposium is being hosted by The Work Foundation, an independent think tank,
as part of a research project called Fit for Work.
"The Fit for Work initiative acknowledges the therapeutic
value of work for patients, and now, advances in therapies permit the ability
for work to be used as a measurable outcome of treatment," said Paul Emery,
Professor of Rheumatology, University of Leeds, UK, and a member of The Work
Foundation's Fit for Work advisory board.
The session is chaired by Prof Ronald van Vollenhoven, chief
of the Clinical Research Unit in the Department of Rheumatology at the
Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden, and looks at clinical evidence for
effective intervention in maintaining and restoring work ability. Stephen
Bevan, Managing Director of The Work Foundation, presents initial European
Fit for Work findings on labour market participation. A panel discussion
follows, examining clinical work and its link to crucial changes in health
policy needed to support patients as citizen-workers. Prof van Vollenhoven
will then call for rheumatologists to take specific action to make Europe Fit
for Work, urging delegates to:
- Encourage patients to demand the right to early detection and
treatment of their conditions so they can be Fit for Work
- Partner with employers to think beyond 'health and safety risks'
to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of their workers
- Engage with policymakers to align national and EU health and work
agendas so that citizen/patients are healthy and can remain in work
...and perhaps most importantly...
- Make patients' being Fit for Work an important clinical goal
The panellists, from across Europe, include:
- Dr Berit Schiottz Christensen, rheumatologist and President
of the Danish Society of Rheumatology
- John Church, CEO of Arthritis Ireland
- Maarten de Wit, a Dutch national and Vice President of
EULAR/PARE representing People with Arthritis/Rheumatism in Europe
- Dr Tom Ling, Director of Evaluation and Audit, RAND Europe
- Dr Tuulikki Sokka, rheumatologist, Jyvaskyla Central
Hospital, Finland and one of the lead investigators on the QUEST-RA
study.
About Musculoskeletal Disorders
Musculoskeletal disorders is an umbrella term covering over 200
conditions that affect the muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, peripheral
nerves and supporting blood vessels, causing pain and functional impairment
to sufferers (Punnett et al, 2004).
About The Work Foundation
The Work Foundation is a UK not-for-profit organisation that through
research, consultancy and advocacy aims to improve the quality of working
life. Working with both public sector and private sector organisations, it
offers a distinctive mix of practical consultancy, robust research and
campaigning on policy issues. It also runs a major programme of research and
consultancy around Health and Wellbeing issues.
About the Fit for Work initiative
The Work Foundation's Fit for Work project is supported by a
research grant from Abbott, the global, broad-based healthcare company. Fit
for Work reports are produced independently by The Work Foundation, with full
editorial control resting with The Work Foundation alone.
The Work Foundation's research, conducted with the support of RAND Europe
and endorsed by the United Nation's Bone and Joint Decade is examining four
conditions and their impact on labour market participation in detail:
- Back pain: a non-specific condition (no specific diagnosis)
usually involving short episodes of pain.
- Work-related upper limb disorders: Also non-specific and
affecting people.
- Rheumatoid arthritis: It is estimated that almost a quarter of
sufferers stop work within five years of diagnosis.
- Spondyloarthropathies: progressive and chronic rheumatic
disorders mainly affecting the spine, but also other joints, tendons
and ligaments.
Source
The Work Foundation
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